Don't Remember Me
by HaleySayWhat
Summary: He remembers her, but she doesn't remember him. So why won't he forget her? And why did she forget him in the first place? Rated M. SM/RW
1. Chapter 1- Prologue

"Are you sure that you want to do this?"

The question hung in the air for a long moment, and was only met with silence. His heart beat loudly in his chest as he stared down at her, waiting for her reply. He wished desperately that she would say no. He understood why she had chosen this path. It was his fault really, and he knew it.

There was no way for them to be together anymore. He had been the one to find out, and he had been the one to end it. It was all him, and looking at him, he knew this wasn't what she wanted at all.

She sat with her shoulders slumped, hands in her lap. She was defeated, beaten down by the past few days of fighting and revelations. But she was beginning to understand that he wasn't going to budge on his decision.

"I just don't understand why this is happening…" She said. She looked up at him, and he was forced to look away. He couldn't stand to see her blue eyes filling with tears, he never had been able to. Usually it would be enough to make him drop to his knees and wipe at her cheeks. He would kiss her soundly and tell her that he was being a stupid git and that there was nothing to worry about, because he was there.

But he couldn't do that this time. There was too much on the line.

"_The serpent will love the flower, but he is a fool…"_

He almost growled as he shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, but the snippet of memory was enough to remind him what was at stake here.

"There's no happy ending for you with me." He said, dropping his eyes. Her sparkling ones were threatening to break his composure. "We've gone on in secret for too long. I needed to move on with my life… and you can't follow me where I'm going."

She grabbed his arm sharply, forcing him to look at her. "But why would you do that? Why would you take that position without telling me when you knew I couldn't come with you?"

He shook her off, intending to appear colder than he was feeling. "Don't you see? We were only fooling ourselves to think this would actually work out… There's too much opposition. Our fate isn't to be together… And mine is to go this way…"

Her shoulders slumped again and she circled her arms around herself. "But I love you…"

His heart broke and he couldn't keep up the charade anymore. He dropped to his knees in front of her and pulled her to his body, wanting to savor the feel of hers one last time. "I love you too. I really do… But sometimes that isn't enough. It's too late now. This will be better in time, you'll see."

"Then… yes… I'm sure…" She sniffed loudly and slowly extricated herself from his eyes. "I can't wait around to see if it gets better. I will never get over this if I remember you. So I want to forget. I _need_ to not remember you. If there is ever a chance at me getting on without you it has to be as if we were never in love. As if you never existed."

His heart twisted in his chest, and he stood. The words were painful, as she had intended them to be. She was hurt and so her defense was to hurt him a little bit back. But she had no idea that this was the most painful thing he had ever had to do in his life, and that he was likely to ever do again.

"You can do it to yourself afterwards, right?" She asked. "You need to forget me too. That's the only way this will work."

He swallowed and put the façade back on. "Of course I can."

She said nothing and he knew it was time. He raised his wand to her forehead and pressed the tip gently into her temple.

She swallowed and shook slightly. "Does it hurt?"

"No…" He said. He reached his free hand down and stroked her cheek gently. "You'll wake up and not remember a thing."

She nodded and closed her eyes. She turned her head quickly and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to his palm. "I'm ready."

He nodded and took a deep breath. "I don't want to do this, but this is the only way. I love you, so much."

Her mouth opened slightly, but before she could protest, he whispered the spell. "_Obliviate…"_

A flash of light erupted from his wand and she fell to the ground, her hair covering her face. He kneeled down and brushed the locks off her cheek, but she remained still.

"I'm not going to do it though," he whispered in her ear. "I'm going to live with the memories."

He picked her up slowly and began to walk. He had decided to bring her to her cousin's house so that she wouldn't wake up confused and alone. He looked down at her face and it looked peaceful, uncaring, almost as much as it had when they had first met.

She was beautiful.

"How could I ever forget you?"


	2. Chapter 2

_She was staring directly at a man. He seemed to be fixated on her as well. She did not know this man, but he was beautiful. His hair was platinum blonde, his eyes shimmered silver. He was perfect. His hair fell into his eyes and he smirked at her. She felt her heart flutter._

_Suddenly, she needed to be near him. She took a step forward, but he quickly lifted his hand as if warning her. Startled, and a little disappointed, she lifted her hand as well, reaching for his. His fingertips stretched towards him. Just as they were about to touch, she felt her fingertips hit something solid. His fingers had stopped as well and his hand flattened against what seemed to be a completely invisible glass wall that separated them._

_Frantic, she stepped closer, pressing against it, needing it to move. The man seemed to be searching for a crack in the barrier, but neither of them seemed to be making any progress. His eyes found hers. He smiled sadly and stepped away from the wall. Her heart beat faster, he couldn't just leave._

_He lifted his hand once again, and waved a slow goodbye, the sad smile still etched on his face. He then turned and began to walk away. He couldn't just leave! She began to panic. She needed to get to him. She threw herself against the wall, fingers scrambling for purchase, trying to find some way to get through it to get to him._

_But she couldn't and she was forced to watch him walk away, never again turning to look at her._

Rose woke up, shaking form the aftermath of the dream. She had been having this dream more and more recently, and each time she awoke feeling unsettled. She didn't know the man in the dream, had absolutely no idea why he frequented her dreams on a regular basis.

She signed and ran her fingers through her hair, pulling at a few tangles that had developed in the red mess overnight. Her heart was still beating quickly and she chided herself. It was just a dream, no reason to get worked up. Not that it made any sense for her to be getting worked up over a man walking away from her. Particularly a man she didn't know.

And especially when she had such a great man in her life to begin with. She felt a twinge of guilt as she rolled over to face her real-life man. He was definitely dream worthy, and she felt silly for dreaming about another man when she had this golden haired god in her bed. How many women would kill to be in her place? Lorcan Scamander was a breathtaking sight, even when he was sleeping. His blonde eyelashes rested gently against the top of his cheek, his early morning stubble creating a slight contrast against the pale skin. She knew that when he opened his eyes, the ocean blue eyes would suck her in, as they always did.

She slid her arm around his well-muscled chest and kissed his neck, willing him to wake up. He made a sound deep in his throat and he lifted his arm to wipe the sleep out of his eyes. She appreciated the way his biceps swelled as he completed the action and she moved closer, feeling a slight flutter in her chest. He turned to face her, a smile pulling at his lips.

"Good morning, gorgeous." He whispered, his arms around her to pull her into his chest. His breath tickled her neck and she shivered. She let out a soft giggle.

"Good morning, love." She replied and she leaned back to catch his eye, feeling the sparkle in her own as she leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Do you want to…?"

She trailed off suggestively and nipped at his ear, pressing her body closer to his. Lorcan growled in confirmation and as he rolled over her, his firm body pressing hers back into the mattress, there were no more thoughts of the silver-eyed man in her head anymore.

* * *

Rose pulled the door to Flourish & Blotts open and smiled at the familiar jingle that went off as she entered the bookstore. The sound of the tiny chimes going off always made her nostalgic. She remembered days when she was small when her mother would bring her here. They would spend hours combing through the books, reading some in the comfy bean bags left in the corner of the store. They would make sure they had thoroughly combed through all of options before finally settling on a handful of books to take home with them.

Her dad always said it was a good thing they had inherited so much money after the war. Otherwise, he claimed he wouldn't have been able to support the reading addiction that the women in his family had.

But the reading addiction had definitely paid off. Rose had conquered Hogwarts at the top of her class as easily as her mother had in her day. No one even tried competing for first place in a class, instead, the other students tended to vie for second place. The only difference between her mother and she was that she had excelled at Potions and actually really enjoyed Divination.

Not that everyone was a brilliant Seer, but after hearing stories of the war, it was foolish to think that there was nothing to be gained from prophecy.

Rose was definitely a Granger in attitude but she made up for it with how much she looked like a Weasley. Her Grandmother always crooned over her, telling her how much she looked like her Aunt Ginny when she was growing up, and it was hard to argue. Not that she would have wanted to, Ginny's beauty was still a legend at Hogwarts before Rose had arrived and replaced the legends with her own.

After school, Rose had combined her love for knowledge and potions together and pursued a job as a Healer. That was why she was in Flourish & Blotts now. Since she began working, she had less time for reading, but she wanted to see if they had a book of remedies. There was a particularly bad curse turned into sickness that was going around the area. This particular curse caused millions of dandelion-like tufts to sprout all over the patient's body.

She walked towards the back of the store, waving at a few acquaintances on the way. Obviously, the Weasley and Potter families had notoriety in the wizarding world, even though it had been years since the war. The Potter kids had it worse. They could barely walk out the door without being hounded by the adoring fans that wanted to get to know the kids better. Poor James had always had trouble with finding girls who were interested in him for more than his famous father.

This was the root of the reason that Rose was so close to her family and their family friends. While in school, it was just much easier to hang out with people in her own family rather than try to sift through the other students to find out who really was interested in being her friend, and who wanted to gain the attention one gets when hanging around a Potter/Weasley. Her best friends had ended up being Lily and Albus.

Dating a Scamander had been a natural development. While she was growing up, she had seen Lorcan and Lysander on the same level as her other family, but they were also accustomed to the fame that came from being part of a war hero's family. As they matured, Rose had noted that it would be much easier to date someone who had a similar background to hers. Of course, it didn't hurt that Lorcan was attractive and handsome. Being Luna Lovegood's son also had provided him enough quirk that he was interesting and different from the rest of her family.

Thinking of Lorcan made her smile, and she was daydreaming about the events of that morning when she almost ran into a stand of books that weren't normally out. Luckily, she righted herself before she completely knocked the entire display over and made a scene and a fool of herself.

The books in the display caught her eye. The only interruption of the perfectly black cover were the loud silver letters that spelled out _Remember Me?_ in the center. And there, at the bottom, an enchantment caused the name Scorpius Malfoy to be written in tiny fancy script and then erased on loop.

Rose paused for a second, running the name through her head. It sounded familiar, but she didn't know why. She knew who Draco Malfoy was, of course. If you got enough Firewhisky in her father, he would still rant over the 'horrible git Malfoy' and all the problems he had caused her parents and Uncle Harry in their school years. She understood that Draco Malfoy had since become in good standing with the Ministry and with her Uncle Harry by being a valuable witness in the trials of the remaining Death Eaters. He had joined the Aurors and offered firsthand knowledge of the Dark Arts that helped them avoid many fatalities during their cases. This, however, did not stop her father from continuing his grudge against the man though.

The name Scorpius didn't ring a bell though. Intrigued, she picked up the book and turned it in her hands, testing the weight. It felt like any other book, but it seemed to hold so much more mystery. She turned to the back of the book, hoping to find out a little bit more about Scorpius Malfoy. Maybe there would be a picture.

There was no photograph of the author, but there was a short bio.

_Scorpius Malfoy, son of Draco and Astoria Malfoy, was born in Wiltshire. After graduating from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 2025, he briefly worked for the Ministry of Magic before becoming an author. __Remember Me?__ is his first novel. He currently lives in London with his cat Henry._

This was strange. If the date in the bio was correct, than he would have graduated from Hogwarts with her class. She had absolutely no recollection of anyone named Malfoy in her school, let alone in her own class. One would think she would have at least noticed the son of her father's arch rival, no matter how much he had personally affected her life.

Puzzled, and a little uneasy, she flipped it over and opened the cover to read the inside. The flap was blank, giving no indication of the subject of the book, so she flipped through the first couple pages. She stopped when she got to the dedication page. The message was strange and puzzling, although dedications often didn't go without a bit of mystery to the reader.

_"My darling;_

_I dwell in the memories you've forgotten. I can't replace you."_

_Rose contemplated this odd statement for a few moments before giving up. This was not a mystery that she was going to be able to solve in a few minutes in the bookshop, it seemed. But the slight discomfort was enough for her to tuck the book under her arm before continuing towards the back of the shop for her original purpose. She would read the book tonight and see if she could figure out a little bit more about this Scorpius Malfoy character._

* * *

_She held out the poem. "This is really good, Scorpius."_

_"It's about you, I wrote it during Charms today, I was bored."_

_"I wondered what you were doing. But still, it's excellent. You should get your work published."_

_He chuckled. "People would get annoyed because all I would be able to write about was you. All day, every day. Nothing else captures my interest enough."_

_She blushed and curled closer to him. "Silly, there's plenty more to write about."_

_"Maybe for other people. But for me, there's only you."_


	3. Chapter 3

"Lorcan, what was Scorpius Malfoy like?"

Lorcan's head snapped up, and he seemed surprised. At least, he was no longer focused on putting as much food as he could in his mouth. He even sputtered a little bit, coughing into the napkin that was on his lap.

Rose handed him his glass of water and he cleared his throat. He had Floo'd her while she was at work that day to ask if she had wanted to get dinner, and she had agreed. She figured she had put him in a good mood with their romp in bed that morning, and he was feeling particularly romantic as a result. They had decided to dine at a new restaurant named _Resurgam_, a highly rated place which _Witch Weekly_ had dubbed the '#1 New Spot to Dine of the Year.

Lorcan took a sip of the water and cleared his throat, his eyes watering a little bit.

"What is who like?" He asked, coughing again because of the scratch in his throat.

"Scorpius Malfoy," Rose replied, using her fork to pick through her barely eaten dinner. She hadn't had an appetite since that afternoon when she had been at Flourish and Blotts. As sweet as Lorcan taking her out to dinner was, she really just wanted to go home and start reading _Remember Me?_ "I know that we went to Hogwarts together, but I can't remember his face. I don't know why I wouldn't though… Dad always told me to make sure to beat him in everything. I feel like I would have looked at him at least once…"

Lorcan shoveled another bite of food in his mouth, his cheeks slightly red from nearly choking. He slowly chewed the bite and then swallowed, looking thoughtful. "Well, it's not really a surprise that you can't remember him. He was pretty shy. Never really stood out for anything. He was pretty average at everything. I probably wouldn't remember him, but I partnered with him in potions once. Why do you ask?"

Rose dug in her bag for the book that she had bought. She held it up, allowing Lorcan to examine the title and the author. He took a moment to do just that, and then looked back at her, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

'I didn't know that Malfoy wrote. Can I see it, baby?' He held out his hand.

Rose hesitated, feeling as though she was handing over the key to the mystery. She clutched it to her chest for a long moment, but at Lorcan's questioning gaze, she handed it over, chiding herself at her possessiveness.

Loran took the book and looked it over again, opening the book to the inside. He looked puzzled while he read the dedication, and she knew it must seem as strange to him as it had to her. He looked up at Rose and cleared his throat again.

"Huh," he said, taking another sip of his water and then another bite of food. "I never knew that Malfoy cared that much about someone. He always seemed standoffish. Never really let anyone close to him. Kinda makes sense though, some didn't like him just because he was a Malfoy."

Rose frowned. She could definitely relate to being judged because of her parents. Unluckily for Scorpius Malfoy, he had a reputation to live down, rather than uphold like she and her family had. She had never felt so grateful that her parents had been on the right side of the war. Having a father that had helped Voldemort, no matter how repentant he had been after the war, didn't lead society to look at one with great trust.

"Maybe it's some French girl. I know that his family has extensive properties in Paris and some more in Italy. It would make sense… Rose, where are you?"

Rose shook her head a little to clear her thoughts, realizing she wasn't listening to him at all. She smiled an apology at him and he smiled back. He reached a hand out to stroke her cheek. "Let's forget about Malfoy. Can I ask you something, gorgeous?"

"Anything," she replied, getting caught in his eyes. She found it a little bit hard to catch her breath. She had moments like this every once in a while where she tried to figure out how a bookish girl like her had ever been able to land such a handsome, caring guy. It would probably be something she always puzzled over. She supposed that some things, she would never figure out.

A blonde curl fell into Loracn's eyes, and he leaned closer to her, as if he was sharing a secret. She could eel his breath against her ear as he whispered in it and she squirmed slightly at the tickle.

"Well, you see, I've been doing a lot of thinking recently. Next week is our third anniversary as a couple, and… I was going to wait until then to ask you this." He leaned back, putting his hand into his cloak pocket. Rose felt a sensation building in her stomach. Disbelief.

"I want you to marry me, Rose. I want you to be mine forever." He slipped to the floor and down on to one knee. "I don't see why I should wait even one more week to know that I have you for the rest of my life."

Rose slumped back in her chair, completely shocked. She hadn't any clue or inclination to indicate that he was going to say anything in the range of a proposal. She scoured his face with wide eyes, searching for any trace that he was kidding, but there was none. Only a small smile on his sculpted lips that told her he was dead serious. And slightly worried at her hesitance.

"I-I…" she stuttered as a flash of the platinum-haired man from her dreams came to her, although she couldn't say the reason for it. His eyes were sad, his pale and harrowed. _Are you sure you want to do this? _A voice asked inside her head, but it was muddled and disjointed. She knew it was the voice of her dream man questioning her decisions.

Lorcan's agitation grew the longer it took her to respond. His eyes became less confident and a shadow of doubt and worry slipped into them. "Well, I mean… You can say no if you want, I don't want you to lie. But maybe this will convince you…"

Her attention was drawn to the black velvet box that he was holding in his palms. He opened it slowly to reveal a silver ring. It was simple, but beautiful, the band twisting around a diamond that seemed to reflect every color, even in the dimly lighted restaurant. Other people had begun to take notice and there was whispering around the room as every eye in the place fixed on them.

Finally, a woman at a nearby table yelled. "Well go on! If you don't want him, I'll have him myself!" This caused a round of laughter. Rose nervously giggled but knew she had hesitated too long.

Stunned at herself for even being able to think of another man at this moment, especially one who wasn't real, Rose did her best to remove all thoughts of her dream. She knelt down beside Lorcan, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Of course I'll marry you, Lorcan," she whispered and she felt her eyes grow watery as the weight of the question began to sink in. "There's nothing in the world I would rather do."

Lorcan hugged her back, obviously thrilled at her answer. The people at the surrounding tables cheered, and Rose noticed a few of the female customers wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs.

But even as he kissed her lips to seal the engagement, she couldn't keep the voice from coming back one more time to whisper _Are you sure you want to do this?_

Through all the excitement, Rose failed to notice two things. The first was a figure rising from its otherwise empty booth on the adjacent side of the room. Casting a glance over to the pair embracing on the ground, the figure quickly and silently took its leave of the cheerful events.

The second thing was Lorcan, looking over Rose's shoulder at the retreating figure, then slowly siding the otherwise forgotten black book down from the table, and into his cloak, allowing it to disappear from view.

* * *

"_Scorpius, you must tell us what is wrong at some point. I am your mother. I deserve to know."_

_His eyes were dull. "I lost something very precious to me."_

"_The girl."_

"_You knew?"_

"_I'm your mother. It is my job to know."_

"_I wasn't right for her."_

_She was angry. "No, it her who was never right for you."_

"_She was all that I wanted, but it wasn't enough."_

_She stroked his hair, wiped his tears. "She isn't good enough for you. You should have been more than enough for her."_

"_You don't understand, you will never understand, mother. I could never be enough."_

* * *

"She's engaged now."

He could have been talking to the wall behind him for all the response that he was getting from the woman sitting on the bed in front of him. He moved closer to her, gripping one of the magnificent bedposts with white knuckles.

"Are you listening to me? She's getting married! To the Scamander boy. I don't know which one it is, but it doesn't matter. Do you hear me? Listen!"

Astoria Malfoy turned to face her husband. She was a beautiful woman, poised and elegant as the day he had married her. But today, her face was lined with worry and grief and rage. She looked older than she had ever looked. Her hands were clasped together in a death grip and she looked down, avoiding his steely gray eyes.

"How do you know this, Draco?" she hissed, lifting herself off the bed. She drew her fine silk bathrobe closer around her body as she turned her back to him, walking towards her vanity.

"How on earth would you know what was going on in her… in that _succubus's_ life? We swore we'd never mention her, never bring her up again, Draco. How do you know?"

Draco walked forward and leaned against the vanity. He pushed himself in front of her, forcing her to look at him. There was anger deep in her eyes. He knew this was a touchy subject, but it must be dealt with.

"Astoria, I saw the Scamander boy propose to her when I was eating at _Resurgam_ tonight. For a second, she hesitated. But then she said yes. She is getting married. It will be all over the news by tomorrow."

Astoria's jaw clenched. She picked up a comb off the table, sitting down in front of the mirror to brush her long dark hair. She looked at Draco in the mirror. "Scorpius must not know, Draco. You must not tell him. You must promise me."

Draco sighed heavily, running a hand through his thinning hair. He turned away from her intense gaze. "Love, let us be serious. He has to find out at some point. He isn't cut off from the world anymore. As his parents, we should be there when he learns about this. We need to help him through this."

"No, Draco. He has been through too much already. He must never find out! Not until he's stronger… We must make sure of it." She didn't even look up from her combing, keeping her eyes fixed forward and her voice level.

"Astoria! We can't hide things from him! If he's going to heal, he needs to do it knowing the whole story!"

The vanity shook as Astoria slammed the comb down onto it, standing and wheeling around to face Draco. "Just because you did not have the courage to stand up to your father about the Dark Lord, and you did not have the courage to warn our son away from this girl the first time, does _not_ mean that I do not have the courage to stand up to you. I have seen my son been taken away, and changed because of this girl once before, and I _will not_ stand to see it happen again, do you hear me? You must not tell him! He must not know, now, right after he has finally gotten over her."

Draco looked taken aback and stepped away from his wife, noticing the fire in her eyes, and trying to form a response, but avoid further conflict. "But, darling, if you would just-"

"No more, Draco." Astoria said firmly, her voice filled with ice. "You've seen his book. He's still obsessed with the witch, and will be either way. Knowing or not. We can at least ease his pain a little bit and save him from this burden."

Draco sighed and ran his hand through his hair again. "Astoria, he's bound to find out sometime… It will be all over the newspapers by the day after tomorrow. And he's bound to run into her sometime, or someone who knows her…"

Astoria stood, and walked to her bedside table, picking up a picture of her platinum haired son, looking at it with gently love in her eyes. The boy in the picture stared back, beautiful and happy. Carefree and lovely.

Just as he used to be. Before Rose Weasley.

"Then we will take him away from here. He doesn't have any work until next Monday, when he interviews with _The Daily Prophet_and his book signing at Fluorish and Blotts. We'll keep him away until then, and she will be out of the newspapers… And as for running in to her… he's managed not to for all these years. Why should now be anything different?"

Draco's shoulders slumped in defeat. He sighed, but walked over and wrapped his arms around his wife. There was no winning when she was like this, and it was pointless to stay upset over it. When it came to Scorpius, she was relentless and unforgiving. Just as his mother had been with him.

"Alright, darling, I just hope you know what you're doing. I guess if he does find out, we'll just deal with it then."

"Exactly, my love," Astoria replied, turning and pressing her lips to Draco, letting him know that he was forgiven. "And of course I know what I'm doing. I'm his mother. I know what's best for him."


	4. Chapter 4

Scorpius had wondered how long it would be until Lorcan Scamander would be paying him a visit. Not that he really expected Lorcan's head to pop into his fireplace today. Not while he was deciding what to bring on the vacation that his mother had suddenly insisted on taking. But nonetheless, there it was, crackling angrily at him in the embers as he was magicking clothes into a suitcase.

"Malfoy!" the head yelled at him, his voice dripping with rage. "What the hell are you thinking? Do you have a death wish or have you finally gone completely insane?"

"Ah, Lorcan Scamander." Scorpius said, not even turning around to look at his fireplace for more than a glance. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your...err… company?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know!" Ashes flew out of the fireplace. Lorcan was positively spitting with rage. "This little book thing you pulled. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Scorpius turned, giving the fireplace his full attention now. He was sure to keep his face blank and emotionless. This man was the man who now had claim to the girl who had been the inspiration for the book he wrote. He got to spend every day with her. He got to sleep in the same bed as her every night… He shook his head. He wouldn't allow himself to go down that particular path.

"What do you mean 'my little book thing?'" Scorpius drawled his eyes blank. "As I recall, my book is not just a 'little' thing anymore. It seems to be quite popular, you know. It's already sold more copies than Lockhart's ever sold. And it's only been a couple weeks since I released it."

Lorcan wasn't listening and his anger was only climbing. "You can't write a book about Rose, Malfoy! What if she would read it?"

Scorpius shrugged and tossed a shirt into his suitcase, pretending not to car that much. "So what if she did?"

"You know how fragile memory charms can be, Malfoy!

"Impossible," he laughed at the thought. "I was the one who cast it."

Lorcan continued, not even bothering to reply. "She's finally started over, and she's _forgotten all about you._ You can't remind her now. It would ruin everything… everything that I- everything that _she_ has worked for in the years since she _asked_ you to make her forget. Surely, _you_ haven't forgotten that part. That she wanted to forget you. She didn't want to remember you anymore."

The words were supposed to sting, Scorpius knew, and they did. But he forced his face to remain blank and calm. He kept walking around the room, gathering items. The more indifferent he could appear the better. He would not let Lorcan Scamander to get under his skin.

"I need a way to make a living, Scamander. Unfortunately, my job options are slightly limited right now… thanks to your previous urging of me not doing anything that would show my face in public, lest your little poppet happen to stumble in and recognize me." Scorpius turned his back and started packing again. "Even though that is impossible. My memory charms are flawless. They were the best the Department of Mysteries had ever seen, and that was before I started working there. No charm I've casted has ever worn off. Ever"

"And how is being an author working away from the public?" Lorcan argued. "With all your publicity and book signings, its bound that Rose will stumble across you. She's already asked me about your years at Hogwarts…."

Scorpius inhaled a breath sharply. _Rose had asked about him?_ A small fire of hope began to kindle in his chest, but he quickly squashed it. He had gotten good at killing his feelings in the past years. He couldn't help himself from turning back to Lorcan though.

"She… she asked about me? When?"

"The other night while we were at _Resurgam. _I managed to save the situation though because…" Lorcan trailed off, realization literally sparking in his eyes. "But of course, you don't know do you? You would have mentioned it by now… or refused to talk to me at all."

"Don't know what?" Scorpius asked, warily. He always felt uneasy when someone knew something he didn't.

"Rose and I…" Lorcan smirked, satisfied. "I proposed to her right after she asked about you. And she said yes. We're engaged."

_Engaged?_ Scorpius stumbled backwards, not being able to hide the sting this time. More than a sting, in fact. The pain was more of a stabbing. Multiple stabbings. Right through his chest. Rage boiled through his body, directed towards the head in the fire.

"Get. Out." Scorpius growled through clenched teeth. "Get out of my house!"

Lorcan tsked through his teeth. "Not a way to treat an old friend I'm afraid, mate. Oh well, I was on my way anyway. But now you know why you must stop this at once. She has a new life now, and you're not part of it. Don't interfere in it again. You wouldn't want her to sink down to the level you're on." With a pop, the head disappeared out of his fireplace.

Scorpius fell to his hands and knees, his head hanging low between his shoulders. Rose was engaged… His Rose… was going to spend forever with another man… He sank slowly to the floor as his head hit his hands.

He had thought that writing _Remember Me?_ would provide him with a sense of closure. After all these years, he had finally accepted that he and Rose would never be together. But somewhere in his heart, it seems he had never imagined the fact that she would end up with anyone else.

He knew she would move on. Hell, she didn't even remember him. But he had never imagined, even though she had forgotten, that she would ever be capable of loving somebody in the way that she had loved him. His eyes prickled, but he didn't cry. After three years of nonstop pain, he had no more tears left to cry. He had thought that finally, he would be free. When he put the finishing touches on his book, he had felt a sense of closure so powerful, he was sure that he would be able to move on, too. But here he was, feeling more hopeless and desperate for his Rose than he ever had before.

Shakily, he got up, forgetting all about his packing and that his mother had wanted to leave as soon as possible. He stumbled over armoire beside his bed and opened it. Inside, was his pensive, full with swirling silver memories that he often visited when he was getting dangerously close to hitting the bottom. And he had never been as close to the bottom as he was now.

He hesitated as he looked down at the shimmering bowl. He hadn't visited these memories for months, having finally felt strong enough to go on by himself. He knew that if he touched the surface, he would be reopening wounds that he feared he might not ever be able to close this time.

But he couldn't stop himself. The memories called like a drug, like a siren song, promising him temporary relief from a world where fate had turned against him. He found himself dipping his head so that his nose just barely touched the surface and allowed himself to be swept into the memories Rose had forgotten.

* * *

"_Thanks, I don't know why my bag split, it's brand new."_

"_That's alright, it happens sometimes."_

_She chuckled. "I guess so… but thank you anyways… Malfoy, right? I don't believe we've ever been formally introduced."_

"_I suppose we haven't. Hello, I'm Scorpius. And you, of course, are Rose Weasley."_

"_Yes, sir, I am. Pleasure to meet you Scorpius, thank you for saving my inkwells before they bounced down the stairs."_

"_The pleasure is all mine." He smiled, charmed. "My bag's split in the hallway before. It was terribly embarrassing. I got ink and paper all over Professor Puckett."_

_She laughed again, smiling at him. He noticed her smile was beautiful. "Well, I'm just glad that didn't help me. The man hates me enough for being better at him in Astronomy already."_

_He grinned, knowing how true this was. "Oh well, who needs the bugger anyway. He doesn't like me either because his daughter had a crush on me in third year. You should have seen the shade of purple he turned while he was dripping with ink. It quite hilarious."_

_They both laughed together, imagining the angry teacher. She finished gathering her stuff into her bag and they stood and faced each other._

"_Well, it was quite nice meeting you, Mr. Malfoy." She said, a half grin on her lips. "I do wish to run into you again sometime."_

_"Miss Weasley, our fathers would just die if they knew we actually had a pleasant conversation," he chuckled. "We are expected to hate each other, you know."_

"_Well, Scorpius," she said with a mischievous glint in her eye. "It just so happens, I don't really care what my anyone thinks, particularly my father. I haven't for years."_

_And with one last smile, she flounced off, long dark red hair swinging behind her. He smiled to himself, and realized he felt strangely happy._

* * *

"Lily, can I ask you something?" Rose fiddled with the engagement ring on her right hand. She was still trying to get used to. It had been a week since Lorcan proposed to her, and its weight seemed odd on her hand, but also familiar. It made her anxious, but not unhappy.

Mostly it just confused her as to why she wasn't thrilled about her engagement. Didn't most girls dream about her wedding her entire life? Hadn't she herself dreamed about finally being able to walk down the aisle to someone she wanted to spend the rest of her life with? And yet, she was uneasy. Not unhappy, just not content.

Lily looked up from the book in front of her, _Magical Maladies; Symptoms and Cures_. They were both at work, having chosen to go into the same field after Hogwarts. Nobody was surprised that the two had decided to do the same thing; they were practically attached at the hip at and away from school. They both excelled at everything, particularly Charms, Potions, and Transfiguration. They even ended up dating brothers. Lily was currently in a relationship with Lysander Scamander. She had even admitted to Rose that she was jealous of her engagement, being as Lysander was dragging his feet getting along to the whole proposal business.

"No Rose, you can't. You know how much I abhor freedom of speech," Lily rolled her eyes and put the book down, focusing her emerald eyes on her cousin, letting her chin rest on her hand. "What is it? You've obviously been bothered all day."

Rose thought over her question in her head, trying to figure out how to word it without sounding ungrateful or like an annoying teenage girl. "Do you… do you think I'm doing what's best by marrying Lorcan? I mean, honestly. Is there something I should consider before I fully agree to this?"

Lily erupted into laughs, patting Rose on the back. "That's hilarious, Rose. Now what is it really?"

Rose's expression didn't change, her eyes a bit hurt and still bothered. Lily's face dropped a little bit. "Oh, you're serious."

She led Rose into a chair and pushed her down, patting her cousin's cheek lightly. "Sweetie, how could there be anything wrong with you marrying Lorcan. He's perfect. He's wonderful and caring and handsome. And, sweetie, he loves you more than anything in this world. Don't you love him?"

"Well of course I do," Rose replied anxiously, spinning the ring on her finger again. "It's just that… it's just that, I can't shake this feeling that… that I'm doing something wrong. Like maybe I've- I don't know, it's all so confusing."

Lily sat on the chair next to Rose, and allowed Rose to learn her head against her own shoulder, rubbing the other girl's back soothingly. "It's normal to feel anxious about an engagement, Rose. It's a big step. You're committing to spend the rest of your life with someone. But you love Lorcan, and he loves you, so I can see no reason to why you can't be happily married forever with him."

Rose sighed and closed her eyes, relaxing completely against her cousin. "I guess you're right. If my biggest worry in life is that I feel uneasy about marrying a gorgeous, sweet, man whom I love, I suppose I'm doing pretty well for myself." She chuckled, and Lily chuckled.

"That's right," Lily said. "You can instead focus on helping me figure out what this stupid dandelion curse is caused by and how we can stop it."

"Oh! I went to the bookstore the day Lorcan proposed to me to find a book about it!" Rose said excitedly, thinking back to her trip. "But I don't think I found anything… in fact… I barely looked for one at all…"

Lily looked puzzled. "Well, that's very uncharacteristic of you. To go in a book store and not get a book."

Rose giggled, but then stopped short, remembering the black book she got, and Scorpius Malfoy, and the puzzlement of not knowing who he was. "Well, I did get a book; it just wasn't the one I went in there for. It was a different one… and I think I left it in _Resurgam_ the night Lorcan proposed to me. "

The fact that she had misplaced the book made Rose sad. Why sad? Was it because she had wasted money on it? Not gotten a chance to read it? Or was it something entirely different? She couldn't stop herself from turning and asking, "Lily, what was Scorpius Malfoy like?"

"Who?" Lily was puzzled. The question had seemingly come out of nowhere. "Scorpius Malfoy? Why? You don't remember him?"

"I can't even recall a face, to be honest." Rose shook her head, bothered by her strange lapse in memory. She could remember what she had gotten for her fourth birthday. And what she had for breakfast every day last week. It wasn't like her to be unable to recall simple details, such as a name and face to go with it. "Lorcan said he was shy and not exceptionally good at anything, so it's no wonder I didn't remember him."

"Hmm, that's strange. Malfoy was bloody brilliant. He was the top of the Slytherin, and top of school besides you. In fact, I had thought he had given you a run for your money a few times! You really don't remember?"

She shook her head, her brow furrowed. She definitely should remember this guy. Almost as smart as her? Ridiculous!

"And I don't think he was too terribly shy either. He had quite a few friends… Actually, I thought Lorcan and Malfoy used to be friends… They used to hang out all of the time. But I think that they got into a huge row over something around the end of fifth year, so I guess it's not a surprise that he talked down about Malfoy."

Lorcan and Malfoy were friends before? Rose twisted the ring on her finger again. That's strange… Why didn't Lorcan tell her that? Why would he keep that secret when she asked him? She swallowed at the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was a strange development, learning that Lorcan kept secrets, even possibly small ones from her. They were supposed to get married.

Lily got a strange look on her face, as though she realized that she might have caused doubt to come into her cousin's relationship. "But that's all in the past. The really weird thing here is that you don't remember him. You think you'd remember a Malfoy, out of all things."

"I know… Our dads used to talk about his dad all the time." Rose responded to Lily, shaking her head, trying to clear it from her troubled thoughts. "Well, I guess some people leave more of an impression on certain people than others."

Rose checked the time, and saw it was about the time to go home. She started to pack her stuff up, then turned to say goodbye to Lily.

"I think that I'll run over to Flourish and Blott's and see if I can find anything else about the dandelion curse. Sorry I wasn't more help before."

She omitted to say that she might also pick up another copy of Scorpius Malfoy's book, so that this time she could actually read it and perhaps learn a little bit more of the strange boy she seemed to have forgotten.


	5. Chapter 5

When Lorcan got home that night, Rose was just finishing _Remember Me. _Tears were gathered in her eyes as she read the last few sentences. The whole book had been moving, and for some reason she found she could relate very intimately to the main characters. Whether it was how personable and life like the characters were, or something else, she didn't know.

The book had followed a couple who were deeply, almost too desperately in love. But through circumstances, and their family and friends pulling them apart, their love unraveled slowly. When they realized they couldn't be together anymore, the girl begged the boy to erase her memories. He decided to go through with it, because he couldn't stand to see her hurt. But at the last minute, he decided to keep his own memories, because he'd rather remember and hurt than forget her.

When Lorcan saw the tears in Rose's eyes, he dropped his bag and ran towards her, bewildered. "Rosie, baby, what's wrong?"

Rose turned away from Lorcan, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her robe. Her voice trembled when she replied, "Oh nothing, don't worry, Lor. Just finished a really… moving story."

Lorcan looked exasperated a few more seconds before he looked at the book she held in her lap. His face turned stony when his eyes flicked over the black cover. "You read Malfoy's book, huh?"

He slowly stood and faced her, tentatively, as if moving too fast would set her off. She looked at him, puzzled, wiping her eyes one more time. He examined her face, trying to judge everything she was thinking from her expression.

"Yes, I did," she huffed, noticing his odd reaction. "I bought it; of course I would read it. It was a very sad story. I'm sorry if it's such a big deal that I get a little emotional sometimes."

"Just a little emotional, huh?" Lorcan asked, the wariness apparent in his voice. "There's nothing else bothering you?" He took a step backwards, looking as if he was waiting for a bomb to drop.

Rose narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. "Actually, there is something," she glared, taking a step towards him, her unstable mood causing her to act a little more wild than normal.

"Rose, listen, I know it seems crazy, but I can explain everything," Lorcan held up his hands and stepped backwards again, his knees hitting the sofa behind him.

"Yes, you should be able to explain!" she cried, stepping towards him again. "Why did you lie to me about Scorpius Malfoy, Lorcan? It wasn't like I couldn't handle the truth, I'm a big girl."

"Rose…" Lorcan said, his shoulders dropping in defeat. "I'm very sorry I kept it from you, but you got to believe me, I just… couldn't tell you… I love you too much…."

"What does you being friends with Malfoy a long time ago have anything to do with how much you love me?" Rose cried, her eyes bewildered. The way Lorcan was acting made no sense. Why was it such a big deal he was friends with Malfoy?

Lorcan looked at her, confusion flicking in his eyes before disappearing. "Friends with Malfoy… what?"

"You never told me you were friends with him; you just talked him down when I asked about him! Why wouldn't you just tell me the truth, Lorcan?"

Realization dawned on Lorcan's face and his posture visibly relaxed. "Ah, that's what this is about." He grinned at her and chuckled.

Rose stamped her foot impatiently. She did not appreciate being laughed at when she was in a bad mood. "Well of course! What else would it be about?"

Lorcan chuckled again and stepped towards his fiancé, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her into a hug. "Oh Rose, I'm sorry. There's no need to be upset. I just guess I didn't think it was that was all that important to tell you. I told you I didn't think very highly of the man, so I didn't think it was that important that I give you every little detail."

Rose relaxed into the hug a little bit, leaning her face against his chest, realizing that she was being a little bit ridiculous by taking everything out on Lorcan. She was just feeling strange, like something inside of her was trying to burst out, and it was coming out in rage at her fiancé. "Being friends with someone is kind of a big thing to leave out, Lorcan. That's not a little detail. But besides, Lily told me that he was popular and intelligent. I thought you said he never really stood out, but Lily said he was brilliant."

"Well, maybe I was under exaggerating a little bit. I'm sorry, honey, I guess I let my bias get the best of me. Can you forgive me?"

Lorcan tilted Rose's chin up so she was looking straight into his sapphire eyes. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and smiled at her.

"Yes, I forgive you," Rose sniffed, smiling tentatively back at him. "I'm sorry for being moody, honey. I don't know what got into me…" She sighed and looked up at him. "I guess it's just bothering me that I can't remember this guy. I don't know why… It's just bothering me. I have a great memory. Why this one guy? Ugh…"

Lorcan pulled her tighter to him and ruffled her hair. "You sound ridiculous sweetheart. No offense, but I really don't think it's anything to worry about. You know?"

She laughed into his chest, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and nuzzling her nose even further into him. "I guess you're right. It's just my pride getting the best of me. Well, he's a damn good writer at least."

He tilted her head up and kissed her gently, which she quickly responded to. Her hands found his hair, and his hands found her waist as the clung to each other. Rose broke the kiss first just as it was starting to get really heated.

"One more thing," she said, her chest moving up and down rapidly as she stared at him directly. "If we're getting married, no more lies. No matter how small. The truth will always come out in the end. And then it will just get between us. Okay?"

"Of course, darling." Lorcan said. Rose didn't even have the time to register the fact that his voice was mechanical and that he hadn't met her gaze before he scooped her up and carried her off to the bedroom.

* * *

_"Ah, we meet again, Mr. Malfoy. It seems you always happen to be passing by when something of mine has just broken."_

_"Yes, it is rather coincidental isn't it? First it was your bag. Then it was that tray of food you were taking back to your dormitory. Then the pet supplies you were carrying seemed to just fly out of your hand. And now this! It's almost as if you intentionally throw something on the floor when I'm walking by because you know that my more sensitive nature cannot stand to see a maiden in trouble. You know I'll stop to help you, of course. You devious little Delilah."_

_Her laugh is musical. "I can't believe you found me out! You know, I also thought that my potions assignment would help to make the floor more interesting to look at."_

_"Oh yes. The burnt spot is certainly fetching. The sulfuric smell along with it... I can't imagine I will want to spend my time anywhere else from here on out. And I have to say the company isn't that bad either._

_Their eyes meet. "Why, Mr. Malfoy, I daresay that is a compliment, wouldn't you?"_

_"I daresay it is, Miss Weasley. Just don't tell anybody that I actually give those out. I do have a reputation to upkeep. The whole son of a Death Eater thing, you understand."_

_"I shant tell a soul. Besides, I think Voldemort would have thrown you out already for being so noble as to help a 'maiden in distress'" Another laugh, his eyes almost close just to savor the sound._

_"Well, Miss Weasley, I have to say as much as I love these run-ins to help you clean up your possessions, I think it might be just as fun to meet under an arranged circumstance. This may be too forward, but if you aren't busy this weekend, would you like to accompany me to Hogsmeade?"_

_"I do love when a man is forward. I would be glad to accompany you."_

_"Then it's a date?"_

_"It's a date."_

* * *

Rose awoke, feeling unsettled. Her breathing was uneven and her heartbeat was rapid. The strange dream had disturbed her. There was no image to it, purely audio as if she was listening to a recording. She distinctly remembered the word 'Malfoy' though. The fact that she couldn't remember this man was beginning to invade her subconscious, and she was bothered.

She tried to relax back into her pillow, but found that Lorcan was halfway on her side of the bed. Normally, she would have been find with this, but at this exact moment, it bothered her immensely. She chocked it up to residual feelings of anger towards him for keeping secrets from her. It was also extremely hot inside their room, and he was making her sweaty.

She sat up and climbed out of bed, grabbing her white silk robe off of a hook on the wall and slipping it on. She noticed that the sleeves were getting a little ragged on the end. It didn't bother her though. She'd had this robe since her school days. Her Grandmother Granger had given it to her not long before she passed away, and Rose had vowed to wear it as a way to remember the lady until the robe itself was in threads.

Lorcan had bought her another one, trying to convince her to throw the old one out. And although the other one was nice, she much preferred this one. That was one thing about Lorcan that continuously bothered her. He always showered her in presents, as if trying to have everything that caused her happiness to have something to do with him.

He always complimented her more when she was wearing clothes that he had bought for her, and when she smelled like the perfume he had given her for Christmas. After they had been sleeping together for a while, and decided they would like their relationship to get a little more serious, Lorcan had suggested she move into his apartment. When Rose had offered they maybe move into hers, he had a list of reasons why it was not a good idea. Too close to the city, even though it didn't bother Rose. Too small. Too far away from work, even though they both apparated so that was rubbish. But Rose always told herself it was childish to be bothered because if the worst thing in their relationship was that her boyfriend loved to shower her in fancy gifts, than, again, she was a really lucky woman.

Rose wandered to the kitchen and fixed herself a cup of tea before going and sitting on the couch in the living room. _Remember Me?_ was sitting on the small table beside the couch. Rose stared at the book, contemplating it. Lorcan's problem with her reading a book by one of his old friends probably had to do with him not liking her to enjoy something by someone who brought Lorcan bad feelings.

But it did bother her a little bit how he just brushed her aside when she said she didn't remember Scorpius Malfoy. Even though she tried to tell herself it was no big deal, she still had trouble just accepting she wouldn't remember him.

Remembering something all the sudden, she picked up _Remember Me?_ and flipped the front cover open. There was a flyer in the front announcing that there would be a book signing going on for the book two days from now. The author would be there for two hours and if you brought your book he would personalize it.

Rose glanced over the flyer a few times, and then it was done. She had decided that she was going to go to this book signing and meet Scorpius Malfoy. It would put her mind at ease if she could at least see him, because she felt as if that was what was bothering her so much. And besides, he was a good author and it never hurt to get a personalized book.

She picked up the book and headed back to bed, feeling sleep tugging at her eyes once more. But before she crawled back into bed, she placed the book back into her chest that rested on the wall opposite her side of the bed. For some reason, Lorcan's reaction unsettled her and she felt better putting her book in the one place that Lorcan knew was off limits to him. Feeling much better now that she had a plan to solve the mystery of Scorpius Malfoy, Rose slid back into bed, feeling the blissful darkness claim her almost immediately and she fell into a dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Fluorish and Blott's was more crowded that Rose expected it to be. While she knew a lot of witches and wizards read besides her, she didn't realize that this specific book had been such a hit with everybody.

The crowd almost wound out of the door, not really allowing her a good look at the inside of the shop. She pulled her jacket closer to her body, trying to hug all of her warmth in. The store was abuzz as she squeezed herself in between a jumble of gossiping witches.

The book signing had been going on for almost an hour by the time she arrived, and Rose was strangely perplexed by the fact that she might not get a chance to meet the elusive Scorpius Malfoy. She set her jaw, determined that she would at least catch a glimpse of him.

She settled herself at the back of the barely moving line, closing her eyes for a second. Her stomach was full of butterflies, but she couldn't understand why. She usually had better control of her feelings and couldn't remember being this nervous about everything. Not at job interviews, not during public speeches, not during her first time with Lorcan. She always felt confident in her ability to do... well anything. There was not much that was unknown to her.

The line crawled forward extremely slowly, Rose couldn't help herself from eavesdropping on the loud pair of women a few places in line ahead of her.

".. And so handsome!" the blonde one was saying to her beautiful dark skinned friend. "And such a good writer. I was truly surprised. I think everyone was! Malfoy isn't always the best last name to have!"

The dark haired woman, who Rose recognized to be Adelina Zambini, made a noise in the back of her throat. Adelina had been two years ahead of Rose in school. She was a Ravenclaw, but had always hung with a mixture of students. Since the end of the war, division between houses had not been as severe. But Adelina was constantly trying to outrun her last name, or at least give people a better view on it other than the Slytherin who got caught up with dark magic.

"He always was exceptional, though." Adelina's voice was deep and melodic. "Extremely handsome, just like his father. But he wasn't pretentious like most people were expecting. From the day he stepped into Hogwarts, he was always extremely unprejudiced, even though he was sorted into Slytherin. His best friend was a Hufflepuff. One of those good looking Scamander boys. I could never tell them apart."

The blonde nodded. "He was a first year when I was a seventh year so I don't really know much about him other than he was always up there in smarts with Rose Weasley."

Rose perked up at the sound of her name, trying to fade further back into the crowd, but her ears definitely trained on the conversation.

"Yes, but she never seemed to notice him. She was sweet, and a pretty little thing, but she never really had time to notice anybody outside of her family and her studies. She had some Ravenclaw friends, and half of Gryffindor, but she didn't know many people besides that. Didn't really seem too interested in making relationships."

Rose felt her cheeks burn red. Could that be why she didn't remember Scorpius Malfoy? She had been a little closed off to the rest of the school, but she had had friends. And she could recall at least faces of most of the people in her year.

The pair continued gossiping in front of her. "Oh yes. But she ended up with the Scamander boy that Malfoy was friends with. I heard that's why he and Malfoy had a falling out. Malfoy didn't approve of Rose very much or something like that. Family rivalries can take a long time to die out."

"Albus Potter did get all of that publicity for dueling Malfoy right in the streets of Diagon Alley three of four years ago. Do you remember that?"

"Yes I do, and it was really strange because they were always decent friends all the way through Hogwarts, if I remember correctly."

The line moved forward and the girls disappeared around a bookshelf, the books effectively putting an end to any eavesdropping Rose could hope to accomplish.

Rose stepped back, her head reeling slightly. This was all so strange. Scorpius had obviously known her, or known enough about her to have an opinion towards her. Is that why Lorcan never mentioned him to her? Because she was the reason for the ultimate fall out of their relationship and he didn't want to make her feel guilty? Because if it was true, she would feel awful. She felt pretty awful now. Perhaps Lorcan had only been trying to protect her.

And what's this about Albus and fighting in public? Rose couldn't remember anything about it, and Albus was her best friend next to Lily. Wouldn't she have remembered if he had been in trouble with the press for fighting someone in the streets?

Rose lifted her hand to her temple and pressed hard, squeezing her eyes shut. Nothing was adding up. It felt like there was something, right in front of her eyes and she just couldn't put her finger on what it was. Something obvious that was missing that she needed to know, needed to be able to picture, but she just couldn't.

The line moved forward again and soon she found herself rounding the corner that the two witches had disappeared around in front of her. She was getting close to the front, and she tried to stand on her tip toes to see around the crowd surrounding the middle of the shop where she knew Scorpius Malfoy must be sitting singing books, but the crowd was too thick, and Rose had inherited her mother's height and couldn't see around or over anybody.

She set her heels back, getting off of her tiptoes, and she realized she could hear only one voice coming from the center of the room, not dozens like in the back of the shop and realized it must be the author himself talking to his fans. He seemed to have them captivated as the crowd was hushed, seemingly hanging on his every word.

Or maybe it was just because his voice was soft and low, melodic, but a tone that would be hard to hear over a lot of jabbering people.

"Thank you for coming and showing your support." He must have been saying to a single person, or maybe the entire group surrounding the area where he must have been sitting. "I never would have guessed that so many people would have taken to the book like they have."

There was a quiet agreement from most gathered there that it was a fantastic book, unlike any they'd ever read. A quiet conversation between the writer and his followers was taking place, and Rose found herself closing her eyes again, her headache lessened, as she listened to the flow of Scorpius Malfoy's words.

His voice was somewhat familiar, she told herself. It made her feel safe, and happy. Which wasn't all that expected after the grief he had been unknowingly causing her for a days now. She was quite content to just lean back on her heels and listen to him talk as she waited for her turn to finally go and meet him.

"Excuse me, could you keep the line moving, please?" she head from behind her, and realized how silly she must look just standing in the middle of the store, her eyes closed almost as if she was daydreaming. She twirled around and apologized to the people she was holding up, and then started to move forward, but just as soon became frozen to the spot.

The swarm in front of her had thinned and she now had a clear view of Scorpius Malfoy.

Her mouth seemed to come unhinged as a pressure seemed to settle over her body. She did know Scorpius Malfoy even though she still couldn't recall a single thing about him. He was thin but his shoulders were broad. He had long delicate fingers as he held the quill he was signing books with. But what she couldn't miss of course, were his silver eyes, cast slightly downward as he watched himself write, and the platinum blonde hair that fell into his eyes. This was the man from her dreams. The one who always walked away. The one who she always screamed for, but he never turned back.

She moved forward as if in that dream now, her hand lifting of its own accord, although she quickly dropped it. She pushed past people, ignoring their grunts of anger. Nothing was more important than speaking to him right now. Nothing else in the world mattered anymore.

Soon, she stood before him, mouth dry, not knowing what to say. His eyes were still focused downward at first, but they slowly lifted and met her own.

She saw his own eyes widen in shock before his body froze, the quill falling out of his hand. She didn't know what to say to him. How could she tell somebody she didn't know 'I dream about you all the time. And I feel like I should remember you, but I don't. Crazy, eh?'

It seemed like he didn't know exactly what to say either, but she noticed a few of his fingers raise, as if he was going to reach out to her. A soft word tumbled through his lips as if on its own, barely more than a whisper. "Rose…"

His voice was filled with pain and a hundred other emotions that she couldn't seem to catch, or even be able to comprehend. But hearing the word seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he was in, even though it only furthered Rose's own state of shock and confusion. His eyes went blank, the silver more of a dull gray than it seemed at first. He stood hastily, and it was clear that he was tense with every move he made.

"I'm sorry," He quietly announced to the crowd. "But my two hours is up and I really must be going now. For those of you who didn't get a chance to get your book signed, feel free to owl it to my house and I will sign it. I apologize for any inconvenience."

And with that, he lifted his wand, causing all the quills and papers scattered on the table to fly into a briefcase that had been sitting beside the table. He snapped it shut quickly, and seemed to almost fly away from Rose, moving as quickly as he could.

Rose stood for a few seconds, along with the rest of the fans, a little shocked at the hasty disappearance before her legs started to move with a mind of their own. She chased him into the street.

"Wait!" Rose heard her voice calling at the hunched, light-haired man who was doing his best to move quickly through the people in front of her. "Scorpius!" she yelled even louder.

His shoulders tensed even further, but he stopped, slowly turning on his heel to look her in the eyes. His eyes were blank, void of emotion, void of anything that could possibly give away what he was feeling at the moment. "I'm sorry, I said you could owl your book to my house. I apologize I can't stay any longer."

She ignored him. "Why can't I remember you?"

The question hung in the air and he looked taken aback. Finally, after a pregnant pause, he replied. "You don't know me. That's the way it's supposed to be."

Before she could question him any further, he apparated with a resounding crack, leaving her to stare at the space where the mysterious stranger from her dreams had been standing only seconds before.

* * *

Scorpius landed directly in his bedroom in his apartment, throwing his briefcase on his bed before practically flying over to his armoire, yanking it open and harshly pulling his pensieve out. He stabbed at it with his wand, sending some of the silver liquid almost splashing out the sides.

He should have known better than to think that he could start mending his life. He should know by now that life didn't work out for him that way.

"_She has a new life now, and you're not part of it. Don't interfere with it again."_

He should have known that she would have been there. Life had a funny way of taunting him. Just when he thought he could maybe start again, maybe try and fill the gaping hole in his chest that seemed to consume him, it reminded him just how impossible that was. How good things didn't happen to people like him. He had his chance, and life had torn that chance away for him. There was no remorse for him in this world, no matter how hard he tried to keep himself away from Rose. He was trying so hard to do what was best for her, and it was eating him alive.

Full of self-pity and grief, Scorpius lowered his nose to the pensieve, letting it carry him to the last happy moments he had spent with her. Maybe if he was lucky, he would get so lost in the past that he wouldn't be able to find the present anymore.

* * *

"_I think that we should tell someone."_

_She shifted, clearly uncomfortable. "Who?"_

"_Why does it matter who, I just want to be able to tell people that you're mine."_

"_Why all the sudden though, Scorpius?"_

_He paused, not sure how much to tell her. _

_He sighed. "It's Lorcan. He wants to ask you to go to Hogsmeade with him. He keeps talking about it, and I can't say a damn word because we're a secret."_

_She snorted. "Lorcan Scamander? He's like my cousin, Scorpius. He has nothing on you."_

"_He won't think that's a good reason to say no. He doesn't know that you're mine."_

"_Of course I'm yours, Scorpius."_

"_Then let me tell Lorcan. Let me tell everyone. Let me show the world how much I love you!"_

_She kissed him, silencing him. "Let's start small. Tell Lorcan and see how he reacts."_

"_I'm sure he'll be shocked you're with a Death Eater like me. Even though we are friends, he won't think that I'm good enough for you."_

"_I don't care what he thinks Scorpius, he has nothing on you. I would pick you over him every time. Every damn time."_

* * *

When Astoria Malfoy knocked on her son's door later that evening and there was no reply, she knew something was wrong. Call it her mother's instincts. She let herself in the door and then quickly climbed the stairs to the room where she knew she would find her son. And find him she did, laying on his bed, his clothing and hair rumpled, his eyes swollen and red, even though they were closed in slumber.

She noticed in his hand, he held a small picture of the girl that she had tried to so hard to make him forget about, or at least realize that there was more to life than her. She felt a strange mix of sorrow and rage fill her and she slowly took the portrait from his hand, lifting the sheets over her sleeping son and tucking them below his chin. She kissed him on the forehead and brushed his hair from his face. "I'm going to help you find better days." She told him softly, even though she knew he couldn't hear him. "I'm going to make sure that you were happier than you ever were before. I swear it."

She turned around and set the picture of Rose Weasley in the fireplace across from Scorpius's bed before sending a wandless spell to start a fire in the chilly room. As the flames consumed the smiling girl, who tilted her head slightly, throwing her long red hair back every now and then, she turned back to her son.

"I promise you, I will do whatever it takes." She kissed him once more on the forehead before leaving the room. "I'm your mother. I know what's best." She quietly let herself out of his apartment, and disappeared into the twilight.


	7. Chapter 7

Rose burst through the door of Albus Potter's house, her hair flying out behind her, her cheeks rosy from the cold, and her eyes rimmed red. She was trying very hard to keep her emotions in check, but at this point, she was just too tired and worked up to do a very good job of it.

"Albus!" she yelled up the stairs, running the back of her hand over her eyes, trying to rid herself of any evidence of tears. She knew that nothing put Albus on edge like her tears. He would think that Scorpius Malfoy had hurt her if she tried to talk about him in a hysterical state. "Albus!" she shouted again, barely noticing that the messy-haired man had stepped out from the kitchen and was standing behind her.

"Merlin, Rose, what's the problem?" he said, wiping his hands on a dish towel. He was wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. There was blue stitching around the sleeves and collar that brought out his eyes. Albus was the more handsome of Harry Potter's two sons. James was popular with witches for being tall, lean, and charismatic with freckles and cropped brown hair, but Albus was tall and broad, with shaggy jet black hair, ice blue eyes and an angular face. He was the source of many a woman's daydream, but he was completely smitten with and loyal to his wife, Holly, who he had been with since his fourth year at Hogwarts.

Rose launched herself across the room and into Albus's arms. He closed his arms around her, even though he had no idea what was going on. She breathed in the scent of cinnamon and vanilla that clung to his shirt. Albus was a fabulous cook, and owned the most successful bakery that Diagon Alley had seen in a century. His smell was familiar and comforting to Rose, which made her feel more unstable for some reason, and she tried not to become weepy all over his nice shirt.

Albus held her for a minute, before releasing her and holding her at arm's length. He could see the tears gathering on the rims of her eyes. In his whole life, he had only ever seen Rose cry a handful of times. And when somebody was causing Rose to cry, it meant somebody was in for a whole lot of hurting from the Potter/Weasley family. But especially Albus himself. He had always seen himself as the person to take care of his younger relatives and was never afraid to get in trouble standing up for one of them.

"Rose Weasley," he chided, gently, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. "You tell me right now what is so wrong with you, that you felt the need to come storming in my house shouting at the top of your lungs. You're lucky that Holly took Noah out to the park, or you would be dealing with a very scared and cranky two year old right now."

Rose sniffed, trying to clear up her suddenly stuffy nose and looked at Albus. "I'm sorry for yelling, but I just feel so on edge."

"What's wrong, dearest?" Albus asked, taking Rose's jacket off of her shoulders so that she could relax and be more comfortable.

"Why did you get in a fight with Scorpius Malfoy? And why don't I remember that happening?" Rose got right to the point, knowing that with Albus, who wasn't much of a conversationalist, it was best to get right to the point. "I can't remember. And every time I think about it, it just becomes more perplexing to me, and every time I try to talk about it with someone, they just brush me off and don't take what I'm feeling seriously. Even Lorcan shuts me down as soon as I start to talk about it. And he's supposed to be supportive in trying to help me solve my problems."

She found herself spilling the entire story of the last few weeks to Albus, from the first time she happened into Flourish and Blott's, the fights with Lorcan, and earlier that day when she had finally run in to Scorpius Malfoy. While she was talking, a couple tears finally managed to spill down her cheeks, as she relived the frustration that had been plaguing her recently.

"I really just can't understand it… Albus, why don't I remember Scorpius Malfoy? He clearly knew who I was. And everyone seems to remember him. What's wrong with me?"

Something that looked like anxiety flickered across Albus's face and exhaled a long breath, running his hand through his long hair. He looked worried, and had a hard time looking her straight in the eye. "I don't know that I can answer that for you, Rosie. And I wish you wouldn't ask. I don't think it's really any of my business…"

Rose stamped her foot impatiently, her fists balled up at her sides. She mentally scolded herself. She really must be on edge today. Her normally reserved exterior was crumbling and she was acting like a moody teenage girl. "I know something is going on! And I know you know something about it, and I know you can't lie to me! So you better tell me!"

Albus brow knit itself together, and he sighed once more, but took his cousin's hand and led her into his sitting room. He pushed her down on an armchair, before turning to face her directly. "Now you listen to me, Rose. You say I can't lie to you, and that's true. But this is something that I really cannot tell you. If you think there's more to it, which I will not say yes or no to, then that's something you're going to have to find out on your own. It's none of my business, if there's something more to it or not. So I will not get involved."

He paced around the room in front of him, his voice raising. "And as to why I got into it with him a few years ago in public… He went back on a promise he made to me. A very personal promise that I will not get into, and I will not share with you. So let me be clear to you, I won't say another word on this subject, okay? What's between Malfoy and I is my business, and what may be between the two of you is not for me to get involved in. Okay?"

Rose stared wide-eyed at the tall man in front of her. Albus barely ever spoke more than a few sentences at a time and was usually very mild tempered. Whatever had gone on between him and Malfoy must really have rocked him if it made him this aggravated. Anything that made Albus raise his voice was hardly a laughing matter. She was glad that she had never been on the receiving end of his anger.

She slumped back into the arm chair, allowing herself a few minutes to process everything that Albus had just said to her. All of the sudden, she felt a strange sense of relief begin to filter through her. "Thank you, Albus." She said, feeling much calmer than she had when she came into the house minutes before.

Albus gave her a strange look. "For what? I can't imagine I did very much but give you more questions. Which I'm sorry for. But I don't know what else to do."

She gave him a half smile, looking him directly in the eye. "Well, you are the first person I've talked to that didn't completely deny that it's nothing strange that I, Rose Weasley, best memory of the entire family, can't remember something. And, by your side-stepping around questions, I know that there is something more to this than I know. And it's something that I need to figure out. But at least I'm sure now that it is worth me inquiring in to. And I will figure it out, Albus. I will."

She stood and moved to give Albus a quick hug. He looked a little taken aback, and the worry lines had only deepened on his face. She could tell her was afraid he had said too much. "Sorry for the short visit, Al, but I know what I need to do now. Thanks for making my mind up for me."

In a sudden decision, Albus gripped her arm before she could move away from him, and looked her directly in the eye. "Rose," he said, and even though there was no one else around, he found his voice dropping to a whisper. "I don't know what you're going to search for, or what you're going to find. This might be something that's best just to let be a mystery. But if you decide to poke and prod, take it from me. This may be dangerous business. It probably isn't something that you shouldn't go tell just anybody. Even if they seem trustworthy. Alright?"

All traces of a smile vanished from Rose's face. She thought she could hear something between the words Albus was saying. Almost a warning. For some reason, she felt like she might be getting into something bigger than she may have realized before.

She decided to shake it off for the time being. "Thanks once again, Al. Give Holly and Noah my love. I'll come by for dinner this weekend."

She disappeared out the door in a hurry, and Albus shook his head. "You're welcome!" he called after her, and let out another sigh. He knew he should have just changed the subject, but he was tired of the secrets that surrounded Rose and her past. A part of him hoped for her sake that she would figure out everything that was going on. But then he remembered exactly what had happened to put her in the situation she was in now, and changed his mind. He hoped for her sake that it was possible for Rose to just live with a little mystery for once in her life.

But he knew that wasn't likely for his inquisitive cousin. As he headed back into the kitchen, to finish baking Noah's favorite carrot cake, he couldn't help but thinking that his whole family might be in for a little shaking. He only hoped that it would happen with as little harm done as possible

* * *

_Dying eyes stared up at Scorpius as he clutched at her hand, pleading with her desperately to come back to him. Her red hair seemed dull, her blue eyes becoming blank and her hand already seemed less warm than seconds before._

_"Why?" she managed to speak, although her lips were cracked and her voice broke with the effort. "Why is this happening Scorpius?"_

_He clutched her to him, begging her, "Rose, stay with me, please!"_

_"Why?" she asked again, her voice getting weaker. "Who did this to me?"_

_Tears dripped down Scorpius's face, and he lowered his forehead to touch hers. "I'm so sorry, Rose. This is all my fault. I should have let you go. I was selfish; I wanted to be with you... I'm so sorry... I should have left... I should have left."_

_"Why?" she asked one more time and her voice sounded stronger all the sudden, the scene around him shifted to Diagon Alley. The sounds were getting louder from all around, threatening to crush him with the noise. Her voice was a scream above everything else. "Why can't I remember you?"_

* * *

Scorpius awoke with a start, soaked in sweat, his shirt plastered to his chest. It was unbearably hot in his room and he stripped his shirt over his head, throwing it in a heap upon the ground. He sank back into his bed, trying to relax himself after the nightmare he had just had.

He would be a liar if he said that seeing Rose today hadn't sparked a flicker of hope in him. It wasn't the first time that he had entertained a wish that she would show up one day, fling herself into his arms, and declare she knew everything and that nothing that had happened in the past mattered. Nothing was more important than being with him again.

But then, a nightmare, a memory, a passing thought in his head reminded him of why it was so important that things remain the way they were. It smacked him in the face and told him why he couldn't be with Rose, and why he was in this position in the first place.

He noticed the fire in his hearth, and stared at it, puzzled. He was sure he hadn't lit one, preferring the chill over the sweltering heat. He had spent seven years in Hogwarts' dungeons, after all. It was nothing new to him.

He inhaled and caught the familiar smell of evergreen, and although it was faint, realized his mother must have come to visit him while he was sleeping. He wondered why she had stopped by, and made a mental note to go visit her later in the week. If he knew his mother, she was probably beyond herself in an attempt to shield him from the news that Rose was engaged. Ever since he had let Rose go, his mother had been determined to make sure that nothing remained for him around the manor, and his apartment that would remind him.

Thinking for the first time of the picture he was holding when he fell asleep, he turned back to his bed, searching for it. It was one of the very few pictures of Rose he had left, and it was one of his favorites.

* * *

_"Scorpius, not another one..." she had said, huffing as he tried to get her to turn around and smile for the new camera he had just purchased. "You've taken at least twenty already."_

_He smiled at her, grabbing her hand and twirling her around to look at him. He smiled and she smiled back. His heart skipped a beat, and he pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. "Can I help that you are so photogenic? I need pictures so that I can hang them in every corner of my room. Then, anyone who happened in would know how much I am in love with you."_

_She giggled at that. "Or how creepy and much of a stalker you've become." But she obediently turned around and looked at the camera, her eyes sparkling with mischief and she smiled a big smile. She let her sundress blow out behind her, her hair whipping around her face. "Besides, it's not like you would put the pictures in your room anyway. We're supposed to be a secret, remember?"_

_He snapped a picture, but then let the camera drop around his neck as he leaped forward and grabbed her around the waist. He pulled her body close to his, and dropped his chin to rest on her windblown curls. "You know I'd tell anybody, Rose. Just say the word, and I'll shout it off of the Astronomy tower."_

_She sighed and let her cheek rest against his chest. "I can't shake the feeling that things will change if other people know. I'm not ready to share 'us' with the world yet. I want to keep you all to myself… for now."_

* * *

Scorpius could clearly remember the day that he had taken that picture. It was one of the memories he visited most on his darkest days. He gave up looking for the picture in his bed sheets. He had a feeling that his mother may have something to do with its disappearance, and if she had found it, there was no way he would ever be seeing it again.

Some twisted humor in Scorpius wondered what Astoria would do if she found all his memories tucked safely right beside his bed. He chuckled darkly, picturing what her face would look like.

A knock came on the door downstairs, and it gave Scorpius a start.

"Speak of the devil and he will appear…" he muttered to himself, knowing his mother must have returned. He didn't know why she had come in the first place, but knew it must have been important. He sighed, slinking down the stairs and wrenching the front door open. "What do you want, Mother?" he demanded.

But Scorpius was wrong. It was not his mother. He took a step back, startled. Rose Weasley was standing on his doorstep. "Wha-what are you doing here?"

Rose looked a little unsure of herself, and her eyes glued themselves to the ground, not meeting his. "I'm sorry for showing up so late at night, but I don't know where else to go right now."

Scorpius felt his eyes narrow, as he told himself to remain calm. He couldn't help a little anger from boiling over at how irresponsible she was being. Did she have no sense of self-preservation? "So you thought you would come into a complete stranger's house, Miss Weasley? I'm sorry, but I told you earlier today. You do not know me, and I don't know why you seem to be following me around."

She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide and innocent. "I'm sorry, Scorpius. I just felt like I needed to come. I don't know why. Something told me I should…"

He felt his resolve slipping a little bit as he began to lose himself into their depths. But he shook his head, his nightmare coming back, the sight of those eyes becoming lifeless burning itself into his mind.

"If I'm not mistaken, Miss Weasley, you do have a fiancé that is probably expecting you at home tonight. How would he feel if you didn't show up and he knew you were with another man?"

Rose felt her eyes narrow, becoming impossibly frustrated once more. She had come here to find answers, and all she was getting was angry. "I apologize, _Mr._ Malfoy. I thought that I could get some help from you, but obviously I was wrong."

Scorpius couldn't help himself from letting out a dark laugh. "Then there's nothing more to say, is there now? Goodnight, Miss Weasley."

He began to close the door, but stopped. Rose was staring straight ahead, suddenly unaware of his presence. Her eyes widened even more and she started to wobble a little. Scorpius yanked the door open and took a step forward, concerned.

"Rose?" he asked and he took a step forward, extending his hand towards her. "Are you okay?"

And with that, Rose's eyes rolled into the back of her head. She opened her mouth and let out a long, shrill, blood-curdling scream before collapsing on Scorpius's doorstep, right in front of him.


	8. Chapter 8

_"Thanks for coming with me tonight Scorpius. Studying by yourself can get lonesome after a while."_

_"Oh, it's my pleasure, really. I know that my presence is valuable but your company is not so bad itself."_

_She laughed, shaking her head. "And you're humble to boot! Please, enlighten me on your other redeeming qualities."_

_He winked, opening a book. "Can't give away all my secrets just yet. I like to maintain an air of mystery."_

_She laughed again, truly glad that he had stopped to help her in the hallway the first time._

* * *

Rose's eyes flew open and she sat straight up. She was in an unfamiliar room on an unfamiliar sofa. She looked around wildly for a second, bewildered by the navy walls and white furnishing, before the sudden movement caused her to notice that her head felt like it was splitting open. Immediately, her head dropped to her knees, and she couldn't help the low moan that escaped from her mouth. Her entire skull felt like it was being squeezed, pulled apart, crushed, and separated all at the same time.

She tried to remember how she got where she was, but it was hard to think through the mind numbing pain that was going through her.

"Umm..." A smooth voice murmured to her right, sounding very uncertain. "Miss Weasley? Are you feeling okay?"

She slowly turned to face the owner of said voice, not wanting to send her head spiraling again. Standing there, holding a cup of tea, was Scorpius Malfoy. All the events of the past evening came rushing back to her, and she felt her cheeks stain red with a blush. She had acted very irrationally, just showing up at a strange man's apartment and demanding that she knew him, even though she didn't remember him. He must have thought she was insane. She was beginning to question her own sanity. And then she had collapsed in front of him. She could remember the intense pain beginning and then, nothing. How much time had passed?

But more importantly she remembered the scene that had played in her mind before she had awoken again. The study date that was so inconsequential, yet amounted to something very important.

She looked Scorpius straight in the eyes and whispered, "I remember you."

Scorpius's eyes flashed, and a bewildered look came over his face. "What do you mean you remember me?" His voice was worried, but she thought she caught a tone that suggested that he was not surprised.

"I remember you." She repeated, holding his gaze, wanting to gauge his reaction on everything, and trying to make him see that she was being honest, and really wasn't crazy. Although she still probably sounded like she was. "Please don't lie to me, Scorpius. I know there's something funny going on, and I know I used to know you and up until now have not been able to remember you, and all of the sudden, I have a memory of you. I know we were friends. We used to study together, right?"

Scorpius nodded very slowly, as if unsure as to how much he should share with her. "You must have forgotten... I wasn't a very remarkable person in school so it's no wonder that you don't remember very clearly. You hit your head when you fell, perhaps that jostled your memories a little bit."

Rose sighed, accepting the cup of tea from him. "I suppose so, it just really makes no sense to me as to why I would have forgotten you, had dreams about you, and then suddenly remembered you only because I fell..."

"Had dreams about me?" Scorpius sat himself down in a padded armchair opposite the couch that Rose was sitting on. "What do you mean?"

She blushed, realizing she may have said too much. He must really think she was crazy now. Some kind of lunatic stalker, chasing him out of bookstores, showing up at his house, having dreams about him.

"Sometimes I have dreams and you're standing there with your arm extended towards me." Rose said, running her finger around the rim of the otherwise untouched teacup, keeping her eyes down. "I mean, he looks like you at least, he has really blonde hair and silver eyes. But I suppose it could be anybody, right?"

There was a pregnant silence as they both sat quietly, avoiding each other's eyes. The unmentioned fact in the room is that not very many people in the wizarding world had platinum blonde hair and silver eyes.

It seemed he decided to let it slide though. She was very thankful for that fact, but decided to change that subject altogether.

She peeked at him through her eyelashes, although she still kept her head down. "I'm sorry for fainting on your doorstep. I'll try not to do it again."

He rolled his eyes, relaxing just a little bit into the chair. "Oh yes, Miss Weasley. I am always upset when something happens beyond another's control. Obviously, you knew you were going to faint and just decided to annoy me by picking my step to do the deed on."

She found her own eyes rolling and sat up a little straighter, taking a small sip of tea, finding it did help to clear her headache up just a tad. "You see right through me, Mr. Malfoy. It's one of my favorite pastimes. Falling on other people's personal properties."

He chuckled and shook his head, his eyes lingering on her face for a moment before snapping away from it. His demeanor changed into a more serious one. Rose didn't like that. She liked when he smiled, for some reason and wanted to keep it that way. For some reason, she found the playful banter very comfortable and almost normal feeling. She decided to continue.

"I mean, after all," she teased. "It is you who should be thanking me. In my fall I seem to have remembered you, and being noticed by me is definitely a worthy accomplishment."

A half smile lit up Scorpius's face, but it didn't reach his silver eyes at all. In fact, they even became more serious. "What exactly did you remember again?" he asked.

"I remember you and me sitting at a table in the library, and I was happy because I hated to study alone." Rose smiled, finding that she already considered the memory as a sort of treasure that had been found, just because she had forgotten it once. She mused silently about it may be the first memory that she had ever officially forgotten.

Scorpius sat silently for a few seconds, his hands hooking together in his laps. "Is that all?" he asked, not meeting her eyes. His voice was deadpan, compared to the joking sarcastic tone he had used earlier.

"Is there something else that I should have remembered?" she asked, eagerly, leaning forward towards him. Was it possible there was more to this story besides them just being friends? The movement caused her head to throb again. "Ouch, I must really have hit my head hard."

"No." He ignored the last comment, and his answer was short, but firm. "There's nothing else. We studied together once, but that's all. We had different classes so it didn't really make sense beyond that once."

Rose leaned back, not being able to help feeling slightly disappointed. For some reason the idea of a big conspiracy had excited her briefly. They sat in silence for another long moment. Finally she shakily stood up, making sure that she wouldn't keel over from her head. Scorpius stared off into the distance, not really noticing her

"Well," she said, standing there awkwardly for a moment as he stared past her. "I think that I'll be going now... I need to be getting home before anybody worries about me."

That seemed to snap Scorpius out of whatever he was thinking about. He stood as well, offering his arm to her to steady her just in case. "Yes, you need to get back to your fiancé."

She thought she might have detected a faintly bitter note in his voice and was reminded again of his past with Lorcan, and what had really happened between them.

_"Oh yes. But she ended up with the Scamander boy that Malfoy was friends with. I heard that's why he and Malfoy had a falling out. Malfoy didn't approve of Rose very much or something like that."_

The words of the gossiping women in the bookshop sounded in her head, and she suddenly felt more uncomfortable. She had apparently forgotten that he may have ended his relationship with Lorcan because he didn't approve of Rose. She suddenly felt very stupid for coming at all. Mystery or not, study partners or not, even though they had shared a pleasant conversation. She pulled at the sleeves of her jumper, fidgeting a little.

"Yes, I must be getting back. I'm sorry for collapsing on the doorstep. Thank you for the tea." She started towards the door, lurching a bit under the fading dizziness behind her eyes.

If he seemed surprised by her sudden change in attitude, he didn't show it. "Are you sure you can make it home okay? Should I call Lorcan, or escort you home?"

"No," she replied hastily, her awareness that she may have just run into a man that already had a trouble with her growing stronger. "I'll be fine. I'm going to walk so apparating doesn't upset my head. Thank you for the concern." She noticed her jacket hanging on a coat stand by the door and grabbed it, opening the door. "Thanks for taking care of me. I'm sorry, once again. I won't be bothering you again, I promise."

Scorpius watched her open the door and start to walk out, but right before she closed it he moved forward, driven by some emotion boiling in his eyes. "Rose-!"

She turned to face him, surprised to find that he addressed her by her first name. She found him closer than she expected, only a few inches away from her body. She felt a strange heat course through her body, and blood flooded her cheeks. She hid her face partially behind her dark red hair and lifted her eyes to his. "Yes?"

He took a step back, as if sensing the heat, or tension, or whatever it was between the two of them. "Just... take care." he said, his hand reaching out, almost like it did in her dreams. He brushed the hair out of her face. "And just promise me... whatever you remember or hear... it might not be what it seems, okay?"

She was taken aback, and frozen in place, not really knowing how to respond. His question made no sense, but at the same time, somewhere deep inside it seemed like he had every right to ask it. "Oh... kay..." she replied finally, finding her breath at the end. "I promise."

"Thank you, Miss Weasley." He was back to formalities. "Well, as I said. Take care and be safe on your travels home."

And with that, he closed the door behind her, leaving her to walk slowly back to her flat by herself.

* * *

As Rose walked home she didn't notice the three pairs of eyes on her back. One came from out the window of the apartment she had just left, the silvery eyes looking longingly towards her, watching the beautiful red head walk out of his life once again. The curtain fell back to place, covering his view of her, as he turned his back to the window.

The second pair of eyes were as silver as the first, almost identical and belonged to a man who looked very similar to the first, if not year older. He watched the girl retreat from the shadows of a side street. He saw his son looking out the window, and saw the sorrow and longing in his eyes. As the girl turned the corner, he turned onto the main street and took the path to the door she had just left from. He felt his son might need someone to be there, and as his father, felt it should be him to stand beside his son.

Neither of the two men, or the girl, had noticed the third pair of eyes that had been watching. The icy blue eyes that had seen her go into the house, and had been waited impatiently for her to come out. As Rose Weasley disappeared from sight, so did the other person, heading into an adjacent direction and into the night.


	9. Chapter 9

"I see you had a visitor," Draco Malfoy said, sliding in the apartment after Scorpius had let him in. Scorpius knew he must have seen Rose leaving, so he didn't even bother to pretend like he didn't know what his father was talking about. Draco was the closest person to knowing the entire story about Rose in his life, and although he didn't know everything, it still was nice to have the company of someone who understood even a little about what he was going through.

Scorpius invited his father to sit, and Draco sat on the edge of the cream colored sofa in the main living room while Scorpius sank into an adjacent armchair. They sat in silence for a minute, Scorpius contemplating just what he wanted to say, and Draco patiently waiting, knowing his son would speak when he was ready. He always did.

"She's remembering me." Scorpius said. He folded his hands together in his lap and looked at his father, his face passive. Draco could tell there was a mixture of emotions behind that simple statement though, no matter how neutral his son looked on the subject.

"Impossible," the older man had replied, curtly, the corners of his mouth twisting down. "You're the best Obliviator the Ministry had ever seen. Your handiwork is flawless. There is no possible way that her memories could be returning."

"Yes, yes, I know." Scorpius sighted. "And yet, there she was at my door today, telling me she dreamt about me and that she knew something was being withheld from her." He ran a hand through his hair. "And she fell over with a terrible headache, and then remembered a specific memory from when we were in school. As if the headache wasn't an obvious sign of memories being returned to begin with. It's hell on your head to go through that."

Draco sat back, his arms crossed, lips pursed slightly, trying to figure out how these events could have occurred. "Is it possible you did a sloppy job on purpose, perhaps hoping that Rose would one day remember, Scorpius? Because as far as I can remember, you have been the only one that has ever been able to remove one of your own memory charms, from the time you started your fifth year at Hogwarts."

"No." Scorpius sighed again, rubbing his temple now, as he felt his own headache coming on. "I can't pretend that the idea never entered my mind... But to have done that would have been to be selfish, and you know how very important it was that I think of her first."

Draco sighed. "You haven't ever given me the specific reason for why she had to forget you, son."

_"The snake will love the flower but he is a fool._

The words came unbidden to Scorpius's mind and he dropped his head into his hands. He took slow, calming breaths, trying to expel the picture of the woman who spoke the words, eyes magnified by her large glasses, staring straight at him, yet staring at nothing. He shook his head to clear it, and looked up at his father. "I'd really rather not think about it right this moment, if that's okay. What's important right now is how Rose is remembering me."

Draco's eyes held nothing but sympathy for his son. Scorpius wondered if maybe his father knew more about the entire situation than he was letting on. "Well, Scorpius, I don't really have an answer for you in that regard. I know you would have done your best if you thought it was in Miss Weasley's best interest. There should be no reason why she shouldn't remember you, unless..."

He grew silent, as if tossing an idea around in his mind.

"What?" Scorpius asked, a bit too eagerly. His father looked up at him, his eyebrow raised in a smug way. He knew that Scorpius had always loved solving mysteries.

The older man continued nonetheless. "A wise man once told me that love is one of the most inexplicable and powerful magics of all time. That it works on its own, whether we understand or not. I only wish I would have listened to him... But anyway, could it be possible that you and Miss Weasley share something so special, that perhaps, her mind is finding a way to bring those memories out from under the spell that you put them on?"

Scorpius sat in silence, resting his chin against his hands, staring at the floor. He thought about what his father said. Could that really be the reason she was remembering him? That the connection between them was so powerful, that even the best memory spell couldn't keep her from forgetting it?

Draco stood up and moved over to his son, laying his hand softly on the younger boy's shoulder. He caught Scorpius's eyes and held the gaze. "They do say that true love never dies, even if the two are separated."

Something flickered in Scorpius's chest as he allowed himself to entertain the thought of Rose remembering, and coming back to him for good. He dared to say it was hope... But he quickly squelched it again when he remembered the reason, once again, why he had decided that they couldn't be together.

"There's something else," Scorpius said, his fingers clenching together into fists.

"What's that, son?" Draco asked, noticing how rigid his son's posture had suddenly gotten.

"When I erased her memories, I made sure to leave little hints of me in her mind," Scorpius said. "I left the memories of us being in the same classes, and very casual encounters, such as when she saw me, or heard my name or anything like that. I knew that Rose had a great memory so I figured if someone ever brought up my name and couldn't remember me it might set something off."

Draco nodded, rubbing his chin slightly with one hand, trying to keep everything his son was telling him straight in his mind.

"But today, after she woke up, she said that she didn't remember me at all. It seemed like she didn't even recognize my name until she had one of her memories returned."

Draco sat up, his eyes wide, as if realizing the implications of what his son was telling him. "You mean to say..?"

"I think someone else has tampered with her memories besides me." Scorpius said, confirming his father's question. "They did sloppy work and erased all evidence of me, so it must have been someone that didn't know Rose very well. But someone who had a large grudge against me."

Draco's eyes remained wide and his mouth fell open. He ran a hand through his thin hair. "But isn't that extremely dangerous? A mind can only handle so much tampering with before that person starts to lose themselves completely."

"Obviously," Scorpius said, and the anger in his voice was extremely noticeable. "Whoever did it did _not_ have Rose's best interest in mind. It's possible that's why her brain is pulling up memories. It's trying to recover some of the damage done as a self-preservation technique."

Draco sat back heavily, looking at his son. "Son, you're not going to want to hear what I have to say right now."

Scorpius looked up at him, although he already knew what he was going to say. "You're right. I'm not going to."

"You need to stay close to Rose, Scorpius," Draco said, looking his son straight in the eyes. "If what you're saying is true, and someone has tried to mess with Rose's mind so that she didn't remember you at all, then it's possible if she starts remembering more than one memory of you, then they're going to attempt to do that again. You need to keep her safe. No one has ever..."

"Survived an obliviate spell three times. Yes I know," Scorpius's voice trembled a little. "After all I've done, it appears I still can't truly keep her safe."

Draco stood up and walked over to his son, clapping him on the shoulder. "You've done all that you can possibly do Scorpius. Don't let someone else endanger the thing that you have suffered so long to protect."

Scorpius pounded his fist against the arm of his chair. "There's no right thing to do in this situation, father! I'll endanger her either way!"

"There is a right thing, Scorpius Hyperion. Don't make the same mistakes I made. Don't sit around and let someone else wreak havoc just because you don't see a way you can stop it."

Draco stood, feeling as if the time for his visit was coming to a close. "I must be going home, Scorpius. Your mother will miss me."

Scorpius just sat there, his head in his hands, fingers locked in his platinum locks. Draco slipped an arm around his shoulder, like he used to when Scorpius was a boy. "You're a good man, Scorpius. I know you'll do the right thing in the end."

He squeezed his son's shoulders softly, then put on his traveling coat and disapperated with a loud crack. Scorpius sat there a few minutes longer, turning over the day's events in his mind. He knew what he had to do. He had known it even before his father had said it. He would have to let the future play out as it would. But if Rose started to remember more and more memories, he would have to step in. He couldn't let someone else take away what he had sacrificed so much to keep alive.

He stood and walked to his bedroom, and quickly drew to the penseive. He drew out a specific memory, and watched as the lady he'd been thinking about earlier swirled in front of him. Her large eyes peered up at him, and he could almost smell the musky odor of her classroom as he dove into the memory, reminding himself of why it was so important that he be cautious with any contact with Rose, even now that it was necessary.

* * *

_Lips pressed right at the pulse on Rose's neck. She let out a breath of air, certain that her heartbeat had picked up, knowing that Lorcan could probably feel it against his mouth. He nipped downward, hitting all the most sensitive spots on her neck and collarbone, before attaching his mouth to one of her breasts, making her moan loudly. She couldn't remember the last time that Lorcan had been this sensitive to her wants instead of just initiating intercourse right away. She slid her hands down into his hair, digging her fingers into his scalp._

_But instead of thick, curly hair under her hands, she found thinner silky hair. She looked down in shock, knowing suddenly it wasn't her fiancé in bed with her. Her eyes met silver ones and her heart jumped into her chest and-_

* * *

Rose awoke with a start, her Muggle alarm clock blaring, her chest moving heavily, sweat covering her brow. She sat up in bed, throwing the covers off, and silenced the alarm before slipping in the bathroom. She hopped quickly into the shower, rinsing away all the sweat from her body, willing her pulse to settle down.

She was angry at herself. She was having sex dreams about other men, like a teenager, while the man she had agreed to marry was laying right next to her. Damn her mind. Damn it all. Why couldn't she just forget about Scorpius Malfoy? And why was she having sex dreams about him? Lorcan was the only man she had ever had an intimate relationship with, and so in her rational mind, she had never ever pictured herself with another man. Not even during dreams. Lorcan was always the focal point.

It had been about a week since she had visited Scorpius Malfoy in the night, and although she had still not been able to shake the feeling that everything was not as it seemed, she had shoved those thoughts away to avoid the embarrassing irrational actions that had accompanied such thinking.

She finished rinsing herself off and got out of the shower, drying herself off. She quickly got dressed, as to not be late to work. She went into her bedroom and kissed Lorcan on the cheek as he slept, but couldn't help but feel guilty as she did it, once again for thinking of another man.

It wasn't until she was already at work that she realized she had not put her engagement ring back on after she showered, and it was still sitting on the edge of the counter in her bathroom.


	10. Chapter 10

A soft knock on the door interrupted Rose's absentminded day dreaming. She had felt slightly out of focus all morning. Thoughts of the previous night at Scorpius Malfoy's house kept invading her mind, and every time she had thought about it, she felt more and more embarrassed. What right did she have to show up on his doorstep?

"Come in," she said quietly, spinning around in her chair to look at the door.

Lily came in, carrying a large bouquet of lilies. "Morning sunshine!" She said cheerily, handing Rose the flowers. "Looks like someone's fiancé wanted to surprise her this morning!"

Rose's brows furrowed at the lilies. "I think that he forgot that he was buying flowers for me, and not for you. He always buys me roses because he thinks he's being clever, because my name is Rose. Are you sure they're not from Lysander?"

Lily chuckled, leaning against the doorway. "No, ma'am. Lilies are your favorite flower, not mine. I like poppies. Lysander knows that so that's what he always buys me." She laughed again. "You got the brother that's not afraid of commitment, but I got the one that's sensitive. Maybe there's hope for me after all. Oh, and here this was with them."

Rose accepted the small card from her cousin and flipped it open. '_Sorry for last night_,' was scrawled in smooth script across the otherwise blank card. Rose almost dropped the bouquet. That was not Lorcan's handwriting. Her chest tightened as she realized the only other person they could be from. Suddenly, she wanted Lily to leave. She wasn't ready to tell her about her encounter with Scorpius. She didn't want advice, and she didn't want Lily to tell Lysander.

Lily was oblivious to the change in Rose's demeanor and wiggled her eyebrows at her cousin. "You guys have a fight last night or something? You know what those flowers are for then. He wants makeup sex tonight."

Rose glared at the other woman, narrowing her eyes. She answered in the most honest way she could without giving anything too vital away. "There will be no makeup sex going on tonight."

Lily frowned slightly, her previous joking manner gone. "Must have been serious, huh?" Her eyes flickered down to Rose's right hand, then they widened. "Where's your ring? That serious?"

Rose set the flowers down and ran her hand through her hair. "No, Lily, nothing that serious. I really don't want to talk about what happened last night right now, but I just forgot my ring. The wedding is still on."

"Oh thank God," Lily laid a hand on her heart. "I was about to lose faith in my Scamander if you've lost faith in yours." She chuckled again, suddenly upbeat again. "But anyway, when you're ready to talk, you know where to find me. I have to get back to work. Toodles!"

Rose watched her cousin's back disappear out of the room and then picked up and flicked her wand. The door to her office shut and locked with a soft click. She turned to her desk and stared at the flowers for a few minutes, almost uncomprehending.

Why would Scorpius send her flowers, especially as an apology? She was the one who should be apologizing to him, if anything. But she felt certain in her heart that the lilies were from the blonde wizard. Who else had she seen last night besides Lorcan?

But as she puzzled over the flowers, something more bothersome occurred to her, and she had a hard time dismissing it as a pure coincidence. How had Scorpius Malfoy, a man who claimed to barely know her, know that her favorite flowers were lilies?

* * *

_"I want to have lilies at our wedding."_

_A beat of silence. "Are you trying to propose to me, Miss Weasley? I'm flattered believe me, but don't you think other people should know about us before the invitations go out? Or are you wanting to elope?"_

_She smacked his arm. "I'm just trying to dream a little, Scorpius. And lilies are my favorite flower and I want them at our wedding. I think after two years, most typical girls have already planned their weddings to the finest detail, and I'm ready to start."_

_Another beat of silence, this one longer. "I love when you dream, I just am slightly confused by the message I'm getting from you, recently."_

_She was confused. "What do you mean?"_

_A tone of bitterness crept into his voice. "You refuse to allow anybody to know about our relationship, and yet you are planning our wedding? Can you not see how that would be confusing to me a little bit? How can I be sure you want to be with me long term when for two years, I've been a secret part of your life?"_

_She was quiet. "I didn't know you were feeling that way, Scorpius."_

_Sigh. "I know it's not your fault... Just tell me what to expect from here, Rose. Tell me what to do and you know I'll do it for you. But I don't think I can continue this relationship if you're not serious about it... because... I'm fully invested in this."_

_"I am too Scorpius... I'm just nervous towards people's reactions towards us. You know how Lorcan took it... I'm just afraid of people hurting you. I can't have you give up your life for me..."_

_"Lorcan just was upset because he wants what I have. Don't let his reaction bother you. You're what I want Rose. I can't imagine ever having a life without you."_

* * *

Scorpius was startled out of the memory by a tapping on his window. He looked up to see his owl, Demeter, knocking her sharp beak against his window, a note tied to her leg. He opened the door and the large black bird flew in, sticking out her leg routinely, although he could see her eyes trained on the small mouse he had put in her cage earlier that day.

Scorpius removed the letter from Demeter's leg and untied the pale blue bow around it, a signature of Rose's since Hogwarts days. He felt his stomach sink and his heart hit his throat at the same time. He slowly unrolled the parchment and read it slowly, trying to savor it.

"_The lilies are beautiful, apology accepted. Now you must allow me to apologize. Meet me for dinner at The Leaky Cauldron tomorrow? If I don't hear from you, I'll be there at 8. -R_"

Dread crept intothrough his stomach, completely overtaking the happy feelings that may have come along with the dinner invitation. He knew he had to protect Rose, but he couldn't help thinking he was still playing with fire being around her.

He knew he had to accept the invitation, otherwise he couldn't expect to keep a semi-close relationship with Rose to keep her safe. But he still found himself putting the parchment down and then walking numbly to his Penseive so that he could remind himself exactly why he had to leave Rose in the first place.

* * *

"Wow, last night must have really been bad. Two bouquets of flowers?"

Lorcan paused right as he was about to knock on the door to Rose's office. He turned around to face Lily, who was leaning nonchalantly against the wall. She had an amused smirk on her face as her eyes traveled over the roses in his arms. He had thought he would be surprising his fiancé with a nice present and ask her to dinner that night.

"Geez, you must really want to get in her pants. Well go ahead and leave them in her office I guess, she's in a meeting with the Head Healer today. Although she didn't change her mind for the lilies, which are her favorites, so I don't know if she'll change it for roses."

Lorcan stared, puzzled at his brother's girlfriend. "Um, excuse me? What other flowers?"

Lily rolled her eyes like he was the biggest idiot in the world. "Oh, save it. Yes, it is embarrassing that I caught you bringing the second batch, but that's okay. I know more embarrassing things about you already! Like you used to ask Lysander to snuggle when you had nightmares. Until you were fifteen."

Lorcan scowled, but didn't see the point in denying it. It was true after all.

"You better make it right though," Lily continued. "She isn't wearing her engagement ring today either."

Lorcan stared openmouthed at Lily. "Wait, what?"

Lily glared at Lorcan and shook her head, starting to walk away from her cousin's fiancé. "She said she forgot it, but I don't know. Whatever happened, you need to make it right. I want to be the Maid of Honor. Don't take that away from me."

When she was gone, Lorcan opened the door to Rose's office and went inside. Her favorite flowers were lilies? Sure enough, there was a big arrangement of lilies sitting on Rose's desk. He opened up the card attached and his eyes skimmed over the note written there. His eyes snapped up, as he remembered Rose coming back seeming distant the night before, and noticed that the handwriting looked amazingly similar to Scorpius's.

Lorcan felt his blood run cold. Had Rose been with Scorpius? Sorry for last night? Just what had happened?

_"She isn't wearing her engagement ring today..."_

Lorcan gripped the roses in his hand so tight, he felt the thorns prick into his fingers. The pain helped him focused his churning thoughts, and he knew what he had to do. He didn't even bother to go close the office door before he apparated out of sight with a large crack.

* * *

He arrived on the doorstep to Malfoy Manor, ignoring all the ward signals that began going off. He looked up into the window to on the third story and all the way to the right, and saw who he had come to visit staring right at him. Expecting him.

The alarms stopped and the figure disappeared out of the window. Lorcan only had to wait a few dozen seconds before the door clicked open.

"I wondered when you would come."

"Well, here I am."

"Come in, we have a lot to talk about."

"Yes, my dear. It appears that we do."

* * *

_Rapid knocks. Door creaks open._

_"Did you do it?"_

_His voice is deadpan. "Leave me alone Lorcan, you're the last person I want to talk to right now."_

_Sarcastic concern. "C'mon, can't we go back to being best friends now that you and Rose didn't work out?"_

_"Just leave me alone. I know all you really want to do is find out if Rose is available so you can go after here. Just back off."_

_"You see right through me Scorpius, right through me. Who knows maybe I'm the sun she needs to save her from the viper venom or whatever."_

_Anger seeps through now. "You coward. You can't twist a prophecy for your own pleasure. You only know how to get to her because of me. "_

_"Nothing is fair in love and war. I thought you would know that by now."_

_"You're trying my patience, leave now before I decide Azkaban is even better than my present situation."_

_"Just stopped by to say stay out of my way. I've won."_

_Slam._


	11. Chapter 11

"_The snake will love the flower, but he is a fool. His presence is a poison, and she will surely wilt…"_

Scorpius shut the doors to his armoire and collapsed, leaning his forehead against it. He let the wood cool his skin as he breathed deeply, fighting the urge to vomit. He always felt feverish and nauseous after this particular memory, but he knew he was going to have to start visiting it more often. It humbled him, anchored him to the real world. Recent events had allowed a very dangerous thing called hope to try to worm its way back into his head. Hope that fate was intervening, and that true love couldn't be stopped by something so simple. But then, he relived this memory and he was reminded that even true love can be stopped by certain circumstances.

He released one more long breath and then pushed himself up off of the cabinet. Checking his watch, he realized that it was 7:30 and he only had 30 minutes before he was supposed to be meeting Rose at the Leaky Cauldron for dinner.

He had earlier had some trouble deciding what to wear, and he felt silly, like a teenager getting ready to go on his/her first date. A suit was way too fancy for a dinner at the Leaky Cauldron, but it was all he wore when he went out, mainly because he normally only left his apartment for business reasons. He had never been a huge fan of jeans, they made him feel uncomfortable and confined. In the end, he had decided to go in a pair of charcoal slacks, but coupled it with a simple white button up shirt, leaving the top button unbuttoned as to not look too formal.

He stood in front of the mirror and gave himself a once over. He was starting to get older, he noticed. There were bags under his eyes that were starting to look more permanent than just a bad night's sleep. Luckily, his hairline was still holding, and he hoped it would continue to over the next years. But there were tiny lines around the corners of his mouth and on his forehead that seemed more prominent than in the past years.

He sighed, and shrugged. It wasn't as if he hadn't been through enough trial in his lifetime that a few wrinkles couldn't be excused. Noting that he had only 15 minutes left to go, he grabbed his cloak off the back of the arm chair that sat in the corner of his room and apparated to Diagon Alley, all the time repeating:

"_The snake will love the flower but he is a fool. He is a fool."_

* * *

Rose hesitated before pulling the door open to The Leaky Cauldron. This night was going to be pivotal in her search for the truth and she was nervous that she was going to mess it up. She mustered all of her nerve and opened the door. As she stepped into the tavern, she was hit by a wave of nostalgia and happiness.

The Leaky Cauldron had always been able to calm her down. When she was young, her parents would come to the tavern to meet the Potters. She, Hugo, and the Potter children would play cards and Wizard chess on the floor while their parents caught up in one of the corner booths. Old Tom had slipped them sweet cakes 'unbeknownst' to their parents until he had passed away shortly before her days in Hogwarts.

As soon as the door shut behind her, she scanned the room, searching for the platinum hair that she had come to associate with Scorpius Malfoy. She spotted him in a booth at the back of the room. His back was to her and the walls of the booth were high so she barely saw him.

Her heartbeat quickened as she walked over towards him and she felt as if she would stumble at any moment. She had been obsessing over the mystery surrounding him for so long, she felt almost giddy at the fact that she may finally begin to solve it.

She finally reached the booth. He was dressed nicely, but casually at the same time, she noticed. She felt underdressed in her work robes. She had come straight from work so that she wouldn't have to explain why she was leaving so late in the evening to Lorcan. She pushed thoughts of Lorcan out of her mind, and the pang of guilt that came along with it. She wasn't doing anything wrong, and he wouldn't have understood. Besides, it seemed that he was keeping secrets from her lately too.

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy," she said, and smiled at him as she slid into the opposite side of the booth. "Sorry I'm a couple minutes late, my shift stretched a little bit long tonight."

"Oh it's no problem," Scorpius insisted, handing her the menu that was laid out before her. As if she had to look at the menu after all these years. "I just got here myself. I really have only been waiting a couple minutes."

Relieved, she smiled tentatively again at him. "Did you order yet?"

"No, I thought I would wait for you. Although honestly, I'm not that hungry."

She laughed. "Neither am I. To be honest with _you_, I'm a little bit nervous."

He looked quizzically at her, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. "And why would that be? Do I scare you?" He huffed slightly. "I know that there are bad stories about my family out there, but I assure you that none of them since the war have been true…"

She held up her hand to stop him. "Don't worry, Scorpius, you don't frighten me. It's just that I can't remember you… Like I told you the other night. It's throwing me off. I'm not a very forgetful person."

"I know. Or um… I've heard, rather." Scorpius's face tinged red. "I'm glad you're not scared of me though…"

They sat in a bit of an awkward silence for a few moments. Rose felt silly. They were both grown, intelligent people and yet here they were, stumped by each other.

"Can I ask you some questions?" She asked suddenly. This was the real reason she was here, she might as well not beat around the bush.

Scorpius hesitated, seeming to way a couple of options in his head. "Yes…" He said reluctantly. "But you have to respect my right not to answer. Depending on the question."

She nodded carefully. Honestly, this was more than she could have hoped for. Having an acquaintance wanting to pick your mind and interrogate him can't have been Scorpius's pastime of choice.

"Alright then, first one," She said, sifting through the number of questions in her mind and trying to decide on the least offensive one. "So I can't remember anything about you. How did we meet?"

Scorpius smiled slightly. "Charm's class. Well, I met you. You didn't really seem to notice me. You were quite absorbed in your work."

She chewed her lip, considering this. "I never talked to you at all? That was pretty rude of me."

"Oh no, you did once or twice, but we never really had any deep meaningful conversations. The first time we were truly alone together was when we studied that time, so there wasn't a lot of room for it."

"I see," she said. She grabbed the complimentary glass of water in front of her and took a drink, thankful for the cool beverage to focus her thoughts. "Alright. Why don't I remember you?"

"I would tell you if I could." There was clearly something he wasn't saying.

"So you can't because you don't know or because you don't want to tell me?" She was frustrated. It seemed that he was trying not to lie to her, but she guessed he was good with words and could talk around anything he didn't really want to answer.

"I can't answer that question, Rose. It's not my place to answer." Scorpius didn't meet her eyes. He was rather absorbed with picking the fraying lamination at the corner of the unused menu. She wondered if she was losing him to his own thoughts.

"It's my place to know though!" She had hoped that this meeting would relieve frustration, but all the good it was doing was causing it to grow. "This is my life and if you know something, I deserve to know about it! I'm tired of people keeping things from me!"

A smile played at the edge of Scorpius's lips which only served to annoy her more. "Lower your voice, Rose."

She seethed but made sure that she wasn't yelling. "Sorry, but you know I'm right."

"Stop thinking that everything is a conspiracy, love." Scorpius's face turned bright red. "Uhh…I mean…"

But she was too quick for him. "Love?"

"Uhh sorry, that's out of habit… I mean. I call everyone love. Sorry to burst your bubble." He didn't meet her eyes thought and she felt as though he was outright lying about this. She decided not to push it though.

"Forget about it," she said. She figured she had stirred the pot enough for the time being and it was clear that he wasn't going to move on certain subjects. "Tell me about yourself. I feel as though I know so little."

He began to launch into his family history and she found herself leaning back into the booth, just listening to him. She found that she really enjoyed being around him. His voice was soft and calming, and she loved the way that he talked. The way that he said certain words. She found herself captivated by the way that his eyes shone when he talked about a certain adventure he had with his friends at Hogwarts, or when he talked about his cat, Henry, whom he clearly loved and spoiled.

She found herself smiling. She felt fond of the man sitting in front of her. She found herself thinking of Lorcan and felt a little uneasy. It wasn't fair of her to be sitting enjoying dinner with this gorgeous man when there was one at home waiting for her. But once again, she told herself that it meant nothing in a romantic aspect and pushed the guilt out of her mind. There was one thing she definitely did know right now. No matter what she had forgotten in the past, she was definitely enjoying getting to know him in the present.

* * *

When Scorpius got home that night, he didn't quite know how to feel. The night had gone better than he had hoped for. Rose had matured over the years. The old Rose would have never taken 'no' so easily on some of the answers that she received.

But he was happy. He was trying to keep this entire situation as painless as possible for her. No matter what happened to him, he didn't want to burden her with the weight of the past and the decisions that the two of them had made.

It seemed that he was doing well so far, and he allowed himself to hope this might actually work. Maybe they really could be friends. At least until he found out who was trying to hurt her so that he could stop that person and protect her. After that, it would be best if he left. And he knew realistically once she and Lorcan were married, there would be no place for him in her life any longer. But that was a ways off and he wasn't going to dwell on it tonight.

He stripped his shirt off, and fell onto his bed, exhausted. He closed his eyes and saw her beautiful face behind them. Just for tonight, he decided, he would allow himself to pretend that everything had gone in his favor. That everything was exactly as he wanted it to be. He pretended that Rose was in bed with him and he could inhale her scent as he fell asleep.

Tomorrow, he would plunge right into the memories and remind himself. He needed the constant reminding. But for tonight, he needed this. Tonight, Rose would be his again, at least in his dreams.

* * *

"_Can I ask you a question, Scorpius?"_

"_Anything, love."_

"_Where do you see yourself after Hogwarts?"_

_He said nothing, wondering what response she was looking for. Recently, she had mentioned getting married a few times, but it was always in passing and seemed more of a conversation filler than anything else._

"_Well, I suppose I want to be out of my parent's house. Have my own apartment. A good job. Maybe I'll work for the Ministry…"_

"_The Ministry?"_

"_Yes. I got an offer to be a part of the Department of Mysteries."_

"_The Department of Mysteries? Seriously? You have to sign your life away to those people. None of them are allowed to have families or spouses while their active. You know that right?"_

"_Yes…"_

_She sat back, clearly hurt. "Then… Why would you want to do that?"_

"_I never said I wanted to. I just said I got an offer."_

"_Well tell them no. That's not for you."_

"_Oh? And you know what's best for me? Is that it?"_

"_Yes of course. Obviously, that would be me. I'm what's best for you."_

_He stayed silent for a moment. He had truly become impatient with all the secrecy. He needed a commitment from her eventually, and he knew they would have that conversation soon. But would it be tonight? He mustered all his courage and decided to ask._

"_Rose, where do you see _yourself_ in ten years?"_

_There wasn't even a hesitation. She said it with true belief and completely sincerity._

"_With you, Scorpius. I see myself with you."_

* * *

When Rose got home that night, Lorcan was still up. This was strange. She and Scorpius had talked until nearly midnight, and usually Lorcan went to bed shortly after ten thirty. She felt bad for being out so late, but by the end of their visit, she and Scorpius were talking like old friends. As if they had known each other for years, rather than just the few days that Rose could remember.

Lorcan looked unhappy. "Where have you been? I Floo'd the office but you weren't there…"

Rose hesitated. She knew that she should tell him the truth, but a part of her was reluctant. She remembered both Albus and Scorpius's warnings about divulging too much information, and she also remembered that Lorcan was being dismissive of the entire situation altogether. So she decided not to tell him. Whether it was hypocritical or not, she couldn't concern herself with now.

"I went out with Lily and some other friends from work. We went to the Leaky Cauldron. It was nothing big. Sorry, I lost track of time. I didn't think that you would be up so late."

Lorcan stared at her, his eyes drilling into her own. She kept her face, what she hoped was, perfectly blank. He held her gaze for a moment and then sighed. She was giving nothing away.

"Fine," he said, but he didn't sound extremely trusting. "Next time, just tell me if you're going out late, okay? I worry."

She nodded and he held his hand out to her, gesturing towards bed. She placed her hand in his, allowing him to lead you, but then regretted the action, remembering that she had forgotten to put her engagement ring on that day. Lorcan's fingers ran over the empty finger, and she knew he noticed it, but he said nothing.

In fact neither of them said a word. She put her engagement ring back on when she was getting ready for bed, and she saw him notice. But then they both crawled into bed without a peep. As she fell into a troubled sleep, she thought she may have heard Lorcan whisper "I love you, Rose, goodnight." But she was too close to sleep to fully respond.


	12. Chapter 12

Over the next few weeks, saw Scorpius three more times. Each time they got a meal and just talked. Rose was desperate to find out more about the mystery surrounding him, but the truth came in increments and she often was left frustrated with the pace at which it came.

She was honestly enjoying getting to know him. Something about him seemed to calm her, and she needed that more and more recently, specifically because things with Lorcan seemed to be taking a nosedive.

Lorcan had begun to spend a lot of time out of their flat. She would often come home to an empty flat and be woken up when he left in the early hours of the morning. She was beginning to worry. But she wasn't ready to talk to him about it yet. Asking him about his secrets would mean that she would need to show hers and she wasn't ready to give up on everything involving Scorpius just yet.

She was feeling particularly stressed over both situations so she decided to take a day out with her mother. She and her mother had remained close over the years. She had never done anything to cause her parents to disapprove of her choices, she had skipped the teenage rebellious stage so she had managed to stay very close to both of them through her whole life.

They had a ritual every time they took a day out. First they would get lunch at a small café that sat in the back of Diagon Alley. Then, they would visit Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Rose's brother, Hugo, had always been a prankster like his twin uncles and he had decided to follow in George's footsteps. He was currently being groomed to take over the joke shop from George who was ready to retire. He had never quite gotten the full spring back in his step after losing his twin and he carried a world-weary look about him. He seemed glad to finally have someone in the family to pass his legacy down onto.

Rose and her mother had just finished their visit with Hugo and were making their way to the place they always ended their days with, Flourish and Blott's. There was just no other place that the two loved to be more, so it was always a good ending to an already good day.

"Hello, Miss Weasley. Mrs. Weasley," the worker on duty called at them as the bell tingled above the door and they entered. Hermione had become a sort of unofficial mascot in the store since the war ended and no one was ever surprised to see either Weasley woman in the shop.

"Hello!" Hermione called, cheerfully, and then turned back to her discussion with Rose. Of course, as a typical mother, the wedding was all that she could think to talk about with her daughter the entire day. "So have you decided on how many bridesmaids you will have? Lily will be your Maid of Honor of course…"

"Course." Rose noted dully. With all the tension between her and Lorcan recently, she hadn't been in the mood to talk about the wedding all day, but Hermione had barely noticed. "I don't know who else though. I have so many cousins and so few friends outside of them…"

Her mind flashed to Scorpius but she immediately changed her line of thinking. Scorpius and her upcoming wedding were not two things that should be thought about at the same time.

Hermione laughed and patted her daughter's back as they walked towards the back of the shop towards the nonfiction section. "Your father had the same problem at our wedding. There were so many groomsmen and so few people I wanted to be bridesmaids. Luckily he had Harry so he didn't have to choose which brother would be his best man."

They had reached the back of the store and Rose thumbed lazily through the books on the shelf back there, too distracted for any of them to catch her interest. "Yes, Lorcan has only really decided on Lysander to be on his side. He has a few other friends that he catches drinks with sometimes, but mostly other than that, he spends all of his time with me."

She frowned slightly as soon as she said this, still bothered that she didn't know where he was spending all of his time recently.

Hermione was browsing through a book on the theory of flying at this point. Quidditch was something that she was not good at, but her husband loved so she tried desperately to connect with him on that level. Her efforts were often in vain, she was still no good on a broom and had little interest in the game on her own, but it didn't stop her from trying. She looked up briefly when Rose spoke and caught her daughter's frown at the end.

"Is something wrong, dear?" She asked. Hermione was incredibly perceptive so there was no reason in pretending that it wasn't talking about Lorcan that had caused her to be minorly upset.

Rose sighed, she had been hoping to avoid her problems with Lorcan today. Her mother adored Lorcan and it would most likely upset her to hear there was discord, especially with the impending nuptials. She glanced around her to make sure that there were no curious ears trying to eavesdrop nearby.

"I just am having a few doubts recently," Rose said, opting for being honest. Hermione shut the book she was holding with a snap, looking concerned.

"It's nothing horrible," Rose said hastily. "Just doubts, I guess."

Hermione frowned. "What kind of doubts? And what brought this on?"

"Well, I found out that he wasn't completely honest with me on a few things recently." Rose definitely wasn't going to go into the mystery surrounding Scorpius. Her mother would only be more worried. Plus, she wasn't exactly sure how well her mother liked the Malfoy's, due to her father's supreme dislike. "And he's been staying out late and not telling me where he's going. I'm just afraid that if we already have problems or can't talk to each other about the ones we have, we are going to have a marriage that's doomed from the start."

"Have you tried talking to him about it?" Hermione asked, patting Rose on the arm soothingly. "I'm sure there's a good explanation. Weddings are scary. He might be having a few doubts of his own."

Rose shook her head. "I want to talk to him, but I'm not ready yet. There are a few things I haven't been honest with him about either." She took a deep breath and continued. "I've met someone recently, and I know that Lorcan doesn't like him."

"Him?" Hermione looked shocked and slightly scandalized. "You're seeing someone else?"

"No, no, no," Rose said quickly. "I love Lorcan. I would never cheat on him. I've just made a friend, and I enjoy being friends with him and I know Lorcan wouldn't want me to be. He doesn't really like when I'm friends with anybody that he doesn't totally approve of."

"Well you're a grown woman and I can't tell you what to do," Hermione said, although Rose could hear the concern in her voice. "But I would be careful. If you're having problems with Lorcan, this is not the time to be getting close to another man. Also, have you considered that maybe Lorcan does know about this friendship and that's why he's been acting strange? It's probably best you don't go behind his back, even for a friendship."

Rose chewed on her lip, pondering this. Perhaps Lorcan did know. He certainly knew something was up. Could he possibly know that it involved Scorpius? She had talked about him a bit before she began to see him on a regular basis, trying to figure out why she couldn't remember him.

"You're right," Rose said. "I'll talk to him tonight."

But even in her head she knew that wasn't true. She wasn't ready to give Scorpius up to Lorcan yet. Not until she got to the bottom of the strange happenings that involved him.

They continued to browse the books and Rose tried to make herself actually focus on them, but she found she couldn't. Hermione wandered off towards the cooking section and she found herself wandering towards the display of Scorpius's book that was still located towards the front of the shop. It had been a while since the release of his book, and there weren't as many copies out but there was still enough of an interest for it to be out in the open.

Looking at the book, she was suddenly struck by the title. _Remember Me?_ Ironic that she couldn't remember the author at all. Whenever she thought too deeply about this coincidence though, her thoughts became heavy and sluggish and she usually gave up. But some part of her wondered if she had something to do with the strange concept of the book.

A woman cleared her throat behind Rose, and she turned to face a dark-haired woman, older than her, but still beautiful.

"I'm sorry," the woman said. "But I need to pick up a copy of my son's book for his grandmother. She wishes to read it."

So this was Astoria Malfoy. Rose noted that Scorpius looked nothing like her, but they had a similar air of elegance.

"Oh, it's me who should be sorry for being in the way," Rose said, stepping out of the way. "It's a brilliant book."

Astoria nodded, looking coolly and slightly down her nose toward Rose. "Yes, well my son is an exceptional man."

"Yes," Rose agreed. "That he is. He's very creative. And intelligent."

Astoria leaned a little closer, as if she couldn't hear what Rose was saying. "Oh, so you know him?"

Rose began to feel uncomfortable with the proximity that the other woman was in, and under the weight of her gaze. "Ah, yes. He and I are… acquainted."

"I see," Astoria gave a dull laugh and smiled. The smile didn't reach her eyes. "Well I'm glad he has friends in such high… esteem."

Rose knew she should feel offended, and part of her did. But more of her felt intimidated. It was clear Astoria didn't like her and she was half expecting the woman to tell Rose to stay away from her son. But Astoria didn't say anything more, just gave Rose a seething glance and then headed to the book teller to complete her purchase.

Rose went back to find her mother, feeling a bit beaten down. So far today, she was only being presented with the negative effects of getting to know Scorpius Malfoy. She found herself wondering if solving the mystery was really worth all the trouble it was causing.

* * *

Her doubts weren't enough to change her mind immediately, though. That night she got dinner with Scorpius. She had decided that tonight she would ask no questions about their past. She knew he was having real trouble lying to her but there were just some things that he could not tell her.

"So I met your mother today," She said, her eyes sparkling when he nearly choked on his fettuccine Alfredo. She knew that wasn't anything he ever expected to hear.

He took a drink of his water before grinning apologetically at her. "Sorry about that but you met my who? My mother. Oh god, I'm sorry."

She chuckled and sipped her glass of wine. "I don't think she cares for me all that much, especially after I told her that you and I knew each other."

Scorpius rolled his eyes but she noticed his eyes look slightly troubled. "My mother doesn't particularly like anyone. Especially women that know me."

"Aw, come on she doesn't want grandchildren someday?" Rose teased gesturing towards him with your fork. "She probably just doesn't want red hair in your pristine platinum family pictures."

Scorpius swallowed and looked away. "She knows grandchildren aren't in her future, she's already accepted it."

Rose frowned, leaning back in her chair. "You never plan on getting married? Why not? Isn't it like, pureblood's obligation or something like that? Pass on the genes so the entire wizarding world doesn't fall into ruin?"

Scorpius looked uncomfortable now and he fiddled uncomfortably with the button on the sleeve of his light blue shirt. "I… I was in love once. But she's gone now."

It was Rose's turn to feel uncomfortable. "Oh… I'm sorry… she died?"

He half smiled at her, and his gaze felt heavy. He dropped her gaze and looked at his folded hands. "Yes."

Rose bit her lip, feeling bad for having brought this subject up. "Was she the one you wrote _Remember Me?_ for?"

"Yes," Scorpius replied, still not looking up. "She thought I should be an author. And now I have these memories with her that she can't remember any longer for, uh, obvious reasons. It was my tribute to her and to our time together."

She decided not to push the issue any longer, feeling as though she was invading his personal privacy. She also chided herself slightly for earlier in the book store when she thought she might have had something to do with the reason that Scorpius wrote _Remember Me?_ Perhaps she really did need to stop thinking there was a bigger conspiracy going on and just accept that she just couldn't remember minor memories of someone she had barely known in school.

* * *

That night when she got home, Lorcan was already in bed. She felt bad for once again having neglected him to spend time with Scorpius, so after she had showered, she snuggled up to him in bed. She felt him stir as she gently kissed his neck.

He turned to look at her through sleepy eyes and she thought that he looked sad. "Hello, love," he said quietly, encircling her in his strong arms.

"Hello," she whispered. She was struck by an immense feeling of guilt and all she wanted to do at that moment was to get the sadness he felt to leave. She lifted her hand and stroked his cheek slightly, sliding one of her legs in between his so she could press closer to him. "How was your day?"

"S'good," Lorcan mumbled, still groggy. He stroked her damp hair with one of his hands, pressing her closer with the other. "I miss you, Rose."

"I'm sorry," Rose's voice was barely audible. "That's my fault."

"It's okay," he said, kissing her softly on the lips. "I'm here when you want me."

"I want you all the time, for the rest of my life," Rose said, honestly. She kissed him back earnestly. "I'm sorry if I haven't been making you feel like that recently."

Lorcan chuckled, rolling so that she was on top of him, her long hair surrounding their faces, making their conversation even more intimate. "So you'd still pick me over everyone else?"

"Every time."

* * *

Scorpius was troubled that evening. Rose hadn't seemed to remember anything more about him, which was a sign that the memory charms were still holding but it seemed like she was getting closer to guessing just on her own. He felt bad that he had lied to her about his 'former love' dying, but he had to get her off the trail somehow. When he had written _Remember Me?_ he hadn't imagined that she would ever read it. And if she had read it, she wasn't supposed to have even been curious to his motivations for writing it. She wasn't even supposed to have really been curious about who he was.

He sat in his room, staring into the fire. The room was muggy and hot but he couldn't care enough to get up and open a window yet. He was trapped in his thoughts.

Maybe Lorcan and his mother had been right. Maybe he should never have written the book. It seemed as though he was only causing more trouble for Rose. He had unintentionally made her question her memories. And it seemed that he had put her in even more danger.

If whoever had adapted her memory the second time knew that she was getting closer to Scorpius, surely they would try to put a stop to it. But how far would they go? He wondered who it was that had altered her memory. He first thought of Lorcan, but he knew that despite Lorcan's bitterness towards him, Rose was truly loved by her fiancé. Hell, Lorcan had been desperate for Rose since before he knew about Rose and Scorpius's pairing. Surely he wouldn't have put her in such danger as to mess with her memories, especially with no particular skills when it came to obliviating someone.

Scorpius rubbed his head, feeling a tension there that couldn't be relieved. He thought back to his days working in the Department of Mysteries. He had seen some remarkable things in those days. Some of it was amazing in a good way, some in a terrifying way. He had seen how people were effected when magic fooled around with their thinking too much. When someone was under the Imperius Curse too long, for instance, they always were very easily manipulated by ideas afterward, whether magic was used or not. Look at Frank and Alice Longbottom. The Cruciatus Curse had turned them into two barely recognizable people. As an Obliviator, he had seen firsthand the good and bad that the memory spell could do.

He had never heard of someone even surviving their memory being altered twice without extreme effects. It seemed that Rose had gotten lucky in that aspect. Perhaps she just had an incredibly strong mind. But he doubted that even she could withstand a third time.

He was torn between wanting to be near her to protect her and thinking that it was best for her safety if he just stayed away.

He stood and wandered the familiar path over to his armoire. For now, he would stay close. But he needed to be careful with what he discussed with her. He couldn't be too careful not to bring up anything that would suddenly trigger her to remember.

He needed to remember how painful it was to lose her once so that he could be reminded to how painful it would be if he lost her again. He opened the doors to the cabinet and saw the Pensieve looming there. It called to him and appalled him at the same time, so much so that he was almost sick to his stomach as he leaned down and touched his nose to the surface. He felt a shudder go through him as he was pulled into another world, forgotten by all but him.

* * *

"_What do you think your father would say when he finds out that his precious daughter is dating a Malfoy?"_

_She chuckled darkly. "Let's just say that you're going to need to have your wand at the ready and plenty defensive spells on hand if you ever have that conversation with him. Although he'd probably be happier it was you instead of your father."_

_He pulled her closer to him on the bed, not liking to be one inch away from her. "If it makes you feel better, my mother would hate you just as much."_

_She snorted, slightly offended. "Oh yes, that makes me feel so much better."_

"_Does it make you feel better that what she thinks doesn't matter to me?"_

"_A little bit. But hey, maybe your mother knows best right?"_

"_And your father knows best?"_

"_Don't be ridiculous." She turned so she was laying half on top of him. "If he thinks that's not you, than he's wrong."_

"_I could say the same about my mother. What do you think your father would say if he finds out that his precious daughter was laying naked in bed with a Malfoy tonight?"_

_She laughed and hit his chest, leaning up to kiss him soundly. "I think that if he ever finds that out I won't have the option of spending the rest of my life with you. Because you'll be dead."_

_They both laughed until their kisses and touches distracted them from laughing anymore._


End file.
